The Voice Within
by horseg27
Summary: An Autobot mysteriously finds herself waking up alone in the woods. She has no recollection of anything before that moment. How she got there or what she was doing is a mystery. But for some reason the Decepticons are after her. All that she really knows is that she has this voice in her head that knows more than it's telling.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first Tranformers fanfic and for the past few weeks has been like my favourite personal project. It's set in the Transformers Prime universe after the events of Legacy and the gaining of the Star Saber and before they have decoded any of the last four sets of coordinates.

Also note that underlined stuff is the mysterious voice.

Enjoy!

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Chapter 1

To anyone else on the planet it was just a normal, ordinary day, yet to some it was anything but normal. Something very out of the ordinary was happening within a forest situated below the shadow of a mountain range. Hidden in the thick woods lay a seventeen foot tall robotic being. Dark purple armour plating, with a few light blue parts, covered its currently unconscious feminine form.

Slowly she woke, letting loose a groan as she did so. Blue optics opened to look out at the world. Sitting up and hearing metal moving she looked down at her body with surprise and confusion. Had she always looked like this? She did not think so and yet here she was.

"What's going on? What happened to me?" Even the sound of her own voice sounded foreign to her but at the same time familiar.

Trying to process what was happening, the femme repeatedly clenched and unclenched her fists, staring at her hands in shock. Slowly she started to look over the rest of her body, or at least the one she currently possessed. The metal that made up her outer shell was dark purple in colour with dark grey metal at her joints between the purple plates and the occasional light blue marking. On her shoulders she noticed that she possessed some sort of silver marking like a raised tattoo, though she did not recognise what it was of. However, it did seem to resemble a face.

Rising to her pedes she looked around, not recognising the forest around her. She kept wondering what she was doing there – questioning why everything felt strange – and why she came up blank when she tried to remember anything. Even though she did not know her purpose there she had a feeling that she should start walking and not having a better idea, she did just that.

Walking along she was having trouble understanding what was going on but still could not think of what had happened before she woke up. She had no memory of anything before then, it was like all her memories had gone missing, vanished into thin air. There was something about the situation that just did not sit right with her. Something that caused her to feel very afraid.

Drawing closer to the bottom of the mountain, she heard voices. Curious, she decided to investigate. Going towards them, she came to the edge of the trees. Peering out she saw a crash site, but not just of any old vehicle, it was a spaceship's crash site and it was not abandoned either. Other robots were wandering around, the two tallest ones were conversing and just within range of her hearing. One robot was silver while the other was blue-grey and they – or really one – was talking loud enough for her to hear.

The taller one was silver with sharp spikes protruding from his shoulders. His optics were red and glowing. He spoke with a harsh gravelly voice seemingly the leader of these _things_, "She must be around here somewhere! She can't have gotten far. Find her! She must have the plans in her head! Bring her to me!"

The blue-grey one, nodded his faceless head. Wordlessly he indicated to the other robots around him. These other beings all looked alike with purple and black colouring and a thin red strip where their optics would be.

_Run. Now,_ spoke a voice in her head and not really wanting to wait around to find out what exactly was going on, she did just that. Turning around she run off as fast as she could, hardly questioning what was talking to her. Unfortunately her escape did not go unnoticed.

"There!"

Glancing behind her, the femme's optics widened in fear as some of the purple robots appeared to replace their arms with some sort of weapon and began firing upon her; while others transformed into jets.

"Get her!" roared the terrifying silver robot before he too turned into a jet unlike anything she had ever seen (or believed she had with no remembrance of her past).

She was unable to keep the squeak of fear from coming into existence, knowing that she could not possibly outrun a jet. _What do they want with me?! What did I ever do to them?!_

The silver jet roared up behind her, firing a shot which hit the ground in front of her. This time she let out a full scream as she stopped to avoid the shot, her arms automatically raised to shield her from the debris that was thrown into the air.

"And here I thought you were supposed to be a seasoned fighter, from what I've heard of your exploits. I'd expected such great things from you. "

The femme glanced up at the jet briefly before continuing her plight for freedom. _What is he talking about? I- I don't know how to fight. I don't even have anything to fight with!_ Everything was just so confusing, nothing so far made any sense.

_Hide in the cave just up ahead,_ came a voice from inside her.

"What?" she uttered in confusion. "Who was that?" This time processing that it was not just her own thoughts.

_Please, just listen,_ it urged.

"Ok then..." Still confused she kept going and soon enough she did see the entrance to a cave, just large enough for her to walk through.

Ducking into the cave she was sure that her pursuers would soon follow her so she kept going, the cave widening out as she went. Her initial shock was starting to wear off and fear was growing with every step she took; the rattling of metal echoing off the walls from her shaking limbs. The femme did her best to control it but it was a lost cause. The stress of waking up in a strange place, certain that things were not as they once were and then being shot at by some strange robots was all too much for her. How was this not a crazy dream!

"This can't be happening. It can't be real! And why can't I remember anything!"

_Calm yourself child,_ the inner voice spoke again.

"That's easy for you to say, you're just a voice in my head!" she cried back at it, clearly freaking out.

It did not speak again, instead there was the sound of other robots coming through the caves towards her. This prompted her into running again, certain that she was running for her very life from these beings.

"Come out, come out wherever you are, Autobot. You know you can't escape. So why don't you save us all the trouble and come peacefully," called out a voice, one she recognised to be the leader of those chasing after her.

Ducking around a corner the femme hid behind some rocks. She was sure she could not get away with hiding there for long but she felt drained and she could not possibly keep running forever.

"If you play nice, I might just let you live."

_Like slag he will,_ the voice muttered.

_Yeah, and you've been so helpful so far. _

_Just shut up and listen. You need to activate you blasters, that way you can at least fight back and you _might_ be able to get out of this situation._

"What? I don't- I don't know how to do that!" she whispered back.

_Relax you mind and focus on your arms, think about them becoming weapons._

Having no better options as the unpleasant one and his minions got ever closer, she took a breath and closed her optics. Trying to calm herself, she did as the strange voice said, to relax and focus her thoughts on her arms.

There came the soft sounds of moving metal like those she had heard from the robots as they transformed into jets. Opening her optics, she gasped staring at her arms in wonder. They were some sort of blaster, just like the voice had said, the weapons having replaced her hands.

_Well done, now fire at them._

"Um, where's the trigger?"

_There is no trigger you control it with your mind._

"Ok..."

Thinking about firing the blaster she was caught off guard when it actually went off, letting loose a shot into the wall, drawing her enemies attention. At first she was elated with what she had done before being filled with dread, realising that it had given her position away.

_Scrap, now you've done it._

Whimpering, she scooted closer against the rock face wishing it would swallow her up and save her from this madness.

Just as the footsteps were drawing near a youthful voice broke in. "Come get some of this, 'Cons!"

Blaster fire broke out, earning a growl from the silver mech as he turned to face the intruder. "Get him! I won't have him ruining my plans!" his yell echoed off the walls.

With the idea that 'enemy of my enemy is my friend,' the femme tried to shove away some of her fear and drew on whatever courage she might have to leap from behind her rock. While the large one's back was turned, she fired a few shots in his direction – all of them missed. "Aww..." she whined, disappointed that her best efforts had done nothing.

The mech turned back to her. "Is that all you've got?" Letting out a menacing laugh, he managed to destroy any confidence she might have had.

Lifting his arm towards her, she got a very good look at the large cannon situated there. Instinct told her to run but she was frozen to the spot, unable to remove herself from the weapon's path.

"Fear. I see that it has consumed you. Well let me put some of it to rest. I'm not going to kill you... Not yet anyway..."

Behind the large silver mech was the young bot who had interrupted earlier. Now within sight the female saw that he was mostly white and blue in colour with red trim. Blasting one of the purple trooper robots in the head the young bot shouted at her. "Run!"

However, she was never given the chance to respond, the cannon on the large mech's arm went off, hitting her lower left side. She screamed out in pain, crumpling to the ground. Clutching the wound she momentarily drew back a hand to see a blue substance covering it. _I really don't understand..._ Was her last thought before falling unconscious.

The silver mech grinned, while the other bot fought to get to her. "Take that one with us. He may be useful to me."

"No!" The younger white and blue mech yelled but he was quickly overwhelmed and they were both carried away.

~oOo~

The purple femme came to hours later, waking in what could be easily described as a nightmare; bolted to a slab of metal sitting at an angle, held down at the wrists. The room where she found herself looked like a highly advanced laboratory, even the walls were like from a science fiction setting, metallic with odd symmetrical patterns. Attached to her wound was a thick cable though she did not know of its purpose, whether it was to help or hinder.

"Oh look who's awake. Glad to see you'll be joining us for the procedure." Looking over at who said that she saw a robot with red colouring, what looked like headlights on his chest and car doors on his arms.

"Wh- what do you want with me?"

He did not get a chance to respond as the silver mech that shot her walked through the door. "Lord Megatron, you're just in time. I was just about to prepare our 'patient.'" The red one addressed him.

"Good." The one called Megatron replied, "I'm most anxious for us to get started."

"Of course. I'll finish setting up the cortical psychic patch and you'll be ready get what you want." The red mech grabbed a long cord which he promptly attached the back of the femme's head.

_Slag, this isn't good,_ came the voice.

With a nervous grimace she thought, _You don't say._ Though she did not fully understand what it was they were doing, she was sure anything where you hook up a cord to someone's head could not be good. The other end of which was plugged into Megatron as he lay on another slab of metal before both their bodies slipped instantly into recharge.

~oOo~

The world they stepped into was a grassy plain with a herd of horses grazing in the distance. A gentle breeze blew against the grass allowing the blades to dance with the wind, while the soft noise of the horses and the twitters of unseen birds added to the sense of calm over the area. The purple femme stood staring over the landscape getting the sense that she knew the place; feeling comfort and peace in the setting. Or she had until Megaton stepped up.

"Now 'Autobot' show me the weapon plans."

Stepping back fearfully, she stuttered a reply, "W-w-weapon p-plans?"

"Don't play dumb with me! It won't help you here for we are inside your mind. So get me those plans!" His gravelly voice growled menacingly at her.

The purple femme's optics grew wide. They were inside her head! Her gaze darted about trying to make some sense of this, before coming to the conclusion that it had something to do with that cord and the cortical psychic patch that guy was talking about.

Megatron took a menacing step forward, stomping his ped heavily, fist held threateningly in front of him. "I'll tear this place apart if I have to!"

"Leave the girl alone Megatron! I know what it is that you want." The voice boomed from all around them.

A look a shock and confusion flickered across Megatron's face as he looked about not having expected to hear another voice, let alone one that surrounded them. He quickly regained his composure, a smile lifting up his face and turned away from the frightened femme. "Now that sounds more the the spirited one I know. Come on out and put away the snivelling little thing before I do it for you."

The purple femme took the chance to move further away from Megatron, letting the voice from her head take over the conversation.

"I cannot do that Megatron. She stays as she is. Unharmed. I might be able to give you what you want though, if, you get out of my head and let me go."

The silver being rubbed his chin, seeming to think it over. "Fine," he replied, "I will consider letting you go once I get the weapons."

A 'hmmm' came in reply before strange writing and diagrams appeared like a screen hovering in the air in front of the intruder.

"You have been most helpful," he chuckled to himself, "But I never took you for one who thought so much of being out in organic life. I expected to find you in you most favoured lab. You haven't turned your back on your beloved science have you? You were talented and it would be such a shame if you had."

"You have what you want, now leave!"the voice yelled, clearly irritated.

Megatron chuckled again, as he disconnected, "Till next time, Violetwind."

Unseen to both was a figure hiding in the shadows, watching...

~oOo~

The femme woke with a gasp, back in the creepy laboratory. Reality was not where she wished to be right then, not in her current predicament.

"Knock Out, start work on constructing the weapons she showed," barked Megatron as he sat up from his own table. "And if there's any materials you require, we have an Autobot that I'm sure would do anything to make sure we don't further harm one of their 'own'..."

"Yes, Lord Megatron."

With a sinister grin the leader left.

Knock Out glanced back at the figure strapped to his table, before turning back to his computer monitor. "Never known any bot to to have something from the fleshies world like that. You certainly seem to be a strange one." He then fell silent as he became caught up in his work; leaving her to her own thoughts.

_Violetwind... Is that my name?_ She wondered.

_Sort of,_ came the voice.

_Sort of? That doesn't make any sense._

The voice didn't reply.

_Well, is it or isn't it my name?_

_It is the name you should answer to._

_You know that's rather cryptic right?_

Once again the voice did not answer.

_Nothing else you want to add?_

Silence.

"Fine," she muttered quietly, wondering if she had gone mad. With a sad sigh her thoughts turned to what would become of her if Megatron let her go. She did not know what she was to do once she was free, she did not have anyone to turn to. Then again there was something more chilling. What if he didn't?

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So what did you think? I'd love to hear from you! But don't expect answers about what's going on with the voice and such as that would give away the plot ;)  
Updates shall hopefully occur every week as I do have a few chapters completed already.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you again to my lovely reviewers! I appreciate your comments!  
This chapter deviates a little from focusing around Violetwind to Smokescreen and the Autobots, mostly a bit of set up for stuff.

And I've decided that chapters will be posted every Saturday (so Fridays for most of you). This gives me the ability to hopefully keep a buffer of chapters in place and we don't go for weeks/months without updates should something happen. :)

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Chapter 2

"Hey, Smokescreen..." Knock Out called happily. "I have a nice little job for you, a little shopping errand, you might say."

The white and blue robot that was Smokescreen – his hands in cuffs – looked over at the speaker. "And what makes you think I'd do anything for you?"

The red mech grinned. "Let me just show you a very good reason for doing as I say." Waving his hand he indicated for two of the vehicon troopers to bring their captive along.

Smokescreen glared at the Decepticons as they flanked him and started dragging him along after Knock Out.

The Decepticon medic led them back to his lab. "Just in here," he said stepping in and pointing towards the purple femme in recharge attached to his table. "So far she's still alive but that could change very easily. It all depends... on you..." He was ever so pleased at having a bot's life in his hands.

The Autobot tried to lunge forward trying to see if she truly was alright but was stopped by the vehicon troopers. "You let her go!"

Knock Out picked a bit of dirt off himself, not even bothering to glance at the prisoner. Bringing him there had done just what he had hoped, aggravate Smokescreen as well as putting him in a difficult position. "I think that really depends on you. Help me out or..." he smirked, "She dies. Pretty simple really."

The commotion had woken Violetwind; the femme stirring and looking over at those who had roused her from her rest. Recognising the white and blue one from before she glanced at him with worry. He had been captured too. A feeling of guilt rose up in her, believing it could only be her fault that he was there.

Seeing her awake and looking over at him as she did, Smokescreen knew he could not risk her life and had to do what the Decepticons wanted. So with this in his mind, he gave in but did so bitterly, "Fine... I'll do what you want."

Pleased with the results, Knock Out approached his captive, lifting the bot's chin with his finger. "So glad you see it my way, Smokescreen." Stepping back he waved off the troopers, "Take him away until we need him."

"Wait! Don't I get the chance to talk to her?"

Knock Out put on a small show of thinking about it before grinning. "Nope."

The red medic received a parting glare from the Autobot as he was taken away but just before he left the room his expression became pained as he felt unworthy for not having been able to rescue the femme the first time when they were out at the cave, thinking that if he had been a better fighter they would not be there.

It was not long before the Decepticons sent Smokescreen on an 'errand' for them. His hands were no longer in cuffs but he was not about to fight back. They would not hesitate to kill the femme if he did. All it would take was one of the vehicon troopers to comm. Knock Out and she would be nothing but scrap metal- not something that he was going to let happen.

"You ready, Autobot?" A trooper asked giving him a rough shove forward.

"Ready to be out of this place," he retorted. In truth though, Smokescreen was not ready at all. They were about to infiltrate a uranium processing facility run by humans and he did not wish to do anything to harm the planet's natives, knowing that Autobots were supposed to protect humanity.

Worse was the fact that he could not get in touch with the rest of the his team. The 'Cons were scrambling his communications rendering it impossible to contact them and would be continuing to do so as they went on the raid. He just hoped they would be able to track his energon signature when he left their ship and perhaps be able to come and stop them.

The familiar whirling sound of a ground bridge alerted him to the fact it was time to go. He was ordered to get moving and grudgingly complied, stepping into the swirling blue green portal. _I hope you guys don't take too long,_ he thought to himself.

Alarms were going off and most of the humans had fled as Smokescreen walked out of the ground bridge. Immediately one of the vehicons gave him a shove and a command. "You, start collecting those containers."

"Yes, sir," he replied giving a mock salute and getting to work with a heavy spark.

The minutes ticked by ever so slowly and the white and blue bot was beginning to wonder if the other Autobots would show up at all but his wishes were indeed granted.

The deep voice of their leader, Optimus Prime, caused all the troopers to pause for just a moment. "Hold it right there, Decepticons. Your thieving ways shall end now."

With him were the blue two wheeler Arcee and the yellow and black striped Bumblebee. It was Arcee who spotted their team mate first. "Smokescreen?" She was shocked and confused as she caught sight of the mech helping move containers.

Bumblebee added in his own beeps of confusion.

The mech opened his mouth to reply but the shots started to ring out from the vehicons, cutting him off. The fight had begun.

The Autobots quickly sprang into action, leaping out of the way to avoid the incoming fire and taking cover to retaliate in kind. Though they did not fire at their fellow Autobot, still not sure of what he was doing there.

"Smokescreen, what's going on?" Optimus called in between shots.

"Keep your mouth shut," one of the troopers near the young bot threatened.

With a glance at his friends and a sigh, he continued preparing for the Decepticons to leave with their stolen goods.

"I knew we couldn't trust him!" shouted Arcee as she sliced at a vehicon with her arm blades. "He's turned on us!"

The voiceless yellow mech beeped his protest.

"Arcee, we cannot jump to conclusions," Optimus stated firmly, hoping that there was a better answer than their newest member having sided with their enemies.

The Decepticons' ground bridge opened up and the troopers started to retreat into it taking whatever they could with them.

Smokescreen knew this was his last chance to try and say something. Stopping before the portal he raised his voice to call back, "I had no choice! They're going to kill her if I don't do what they want! " he was stopped from saying any more by a hit to the back that sent him sprawling forward and into the ground bridge. Falling through he landed heavily on the other side back on the Nemesis.

"Well Autobot, at least you managed to do something right," came Knock Out's mocking voice. "Take him back to his cell."

Smokescreen groaned as he started to get up only to be roughly hauled to his pedes and pushed down the corridor. _I really hope they believed me. If not we might be slagged..._

The three Autobots stepped out of the ground bridge and into their base. None of them were very happy, thoughts centred on their encounter with Smokescreen as much as the fact they failed to stop the Decepticons.

A girl with pink highlights in her dark hair looked up from her place on the couch. "So did you show them 'Cons who's boss?"

Optimus sighed showing his distress, while Arcee full out said her mind. "The fragging traitor! He's joined the 'Cons!"

Waving his arms in the air Bumblebee protested.

"Our scout is right, Arcee. What he said might be true," the Prime said hoping it was so.

Miko had left the couch to glare angrily up at them as they talked about something which she had not been told about. "Who joined the 'Cons? And what did they say?"

The heavyset green mech, named Bulkhead, limped in just in time to catch Miko's question and look over at his team mates.

"Smokescreen!" Arcee yelled in frustration.

"What? No way!"

Bulkhead added his disgust, smashing a fist into his other hand. "That little punk!"

Their leader placed a calming hand on the blue femme. "We cannot be sure of that at this moment. I do not believe Smokescreen would willingly aid the Decepticons." Looking over at the young human he continued, "Smokescreen mentioned someone else and having no choice in the matter as he helped them steal from the humans' facility; that her life would be in danger if he did not."

Ratchet spoke for the first time since the others had returned, "Optimus..."

The large bot turned to his old friend.

"If he has turned he knows the bases location and could lead the 'Cons right here but if he hasn't..."

Everyone fell silent as the revelation of what the medic said dawned upon them. There was the possibility that Smokescreen had become a traitor but why then would he not have led the Decepticons straight to them instead of attacking and helping steal from the humans. It would have easily taken them all by surprise. Then there was the second possibility. This one grieved them all. If he had not defected then he had been captured and worse was that he wasn't the only one in Decepticon hands...

A fierce determination had captured Arcee's face. "Optimus, if he's right, we need to get them back."

A two days went by and the Autobots had not found anything which could help them locate Smokescreen and the mysterious female he mentioned. The strain of the search was taking its toll and everyone was getting touchy because of it. They were all rather concerned about the others' fate.

Arcee and Jack rolled in after his shift at KO Burger. Slipping off the bike he walked over to where Ratchet was monitoring the screens, while Arcee transformed back into her robot mode once he was clear. "Any news?" The boy asked.

"Mmm, nothing yet," grumbled the bot. "Optimus should be returning from his search of sector J soon though."

"Slag," Arcee grumbled, "why haven't those 'Cons done something else by now! At least then we'd have a chance of finding them!"

"It has only been two days, Arcee. The Decepticons are unlikely to do much if they have what they need for the time being. We can only continue to be vigilant and hope that something comes up that may reveal their location," replied the medic not taking his optics from the screens.

At that moment Optimus called in, "Ratchet. Ground bridge here immediately. I have discovered a starship of unknown origins and although it appears abandoned there is evidence of a Decepticon presence."

"I'll be coming too," Arcee stated. "Can't be too careful if the 'Cons have already beaten us there."

"Mhmm," agreed Ratchet wordlessly as he opened the ground bridge at Optimus's coordinates.

"Hey what about me?" interrupted Jack.

"You can stay and man the ground bridge," the medic replied stepping away.

"Hmph," was the teenage boy's less than satisfied response. He wasn't too thrilled at being left behind alone. If only one of the others was there to at least keep him company but Miko and Rafael were both out with their 'Bots taking some down time.

"So stay here," commanded Ratchet.

"Fine, I'm no Miko. But it would be a shame not be able to see a spaceship," he tried a last ditch effort in persuading them into taking him along.

Arcee smirked. "Maybe you can check it out later. _After_, we know its not a trap crawling with 'Cons."

"Yes!" he whispered doing a fist pump.

"See ya, Jack," she said as she walked through the ground bridge with Ratchet.

On the other side they stepped out to a waiting Optimus Prime. Stretching out his hand, he pointed over to the wreckage that had once been a small spacecraft but was now far too damaged to even fly. "It lies over there. Be alert as we approach, there were signs of energon blasts in the forest, most likely caused by Decepticons."

Ratchet and Arcee nodded their understanding before the blue femme asked, "Do you think this might belong to Smokescreen's 'she'?"

"It could be. Cloaking on the ship could be the reason our sensors were not able to detect it when it first entered Earth's atmosphere," the medic responded.

Arcee grimaced, "And yet the 'Cons still found it first."

"Let us not worry about such at this time. Instead we shall investigate for any signs of life enemy or otherwise," Optimus broke off any further musings.

Drawing out their weapons the trio carefully moved closer, using what cover they could as they went. There were no signs of life as they approached, nothing indicating that their enemies were still around. However, the symbol on the side of the ship did not sit well with them. It was the sharp angled insignia of the Decepticons.

Approaching the spacecraft's entrance Arcee went in first, guns at the ready. Seeing that the coast was clear she nodded to the others and continued, the mechs right behind her. Searching the few rooms of the ship they found it to be abandoned, even the ship's storage was empty.

Since the place was clear, not a soul to be found, Ratchet went to access the ships data log in an effort to find any information about who it might have belonged to and where it might have come from. However his search was unfruitful yet surprising. "Optimus, the ship's data has been wiped clean. There's nothing left."

"Was this the occupant's doing or the Decepticons?" questioned the Prime.

"I can't be sure."

"What do you think they were hiding?" Arcee added.

Ratchet mused over the possibilities. "Could be anything. Highly sensitive information, scientific plans, battle strategies or one of numerous other things. Whatever it was, they didn't want anyone else to know about it." He opened up the hatch to investigate the computer circuits.

"Is there any way to find out anything about the ship, Ratchet?"

"Unlikely. Even the backup is erased. I could try taking it back to base but there is little chance of retrieving anything."

"What now?"wondered Arcee. "What about Smokescreen's femme friend then? Was she really someone he should want to help?"

Optimus Prime spoke calmly though, grieved with their lack of information, "For now we shall return to base and contact Agent Fowler to remove the spacecraft lest humans stumble upon it. As for your other questions... We cannot be certain. But I do not understand why the Decepticons would use one of their own to threaten our young ally."

* * *

I have to admit I'm not thrilled with they way I've done this chapter but it does allow for some later foreshadowing. So yay, foreshadowing!  
Also just a small note, I have started a sketch of Violetwind and hope to eventually colour it so you can see what she looks like. Yay!


	3. Chapter 3

Love hearing what you think of my story! It makes me so happy to know that my writing is being enjoyed by others. :D  
And so we have the next chapter!

* * *

Chapter 3

The Decepticon's prisoner was able to survive without the life support now, so placing her into cuffs they put her in with her fellow Autobot. The vehicons that shoved her though the door said nothing, sealing the door after her. The shove caused her to stumble and her fall to the floor from the rough treatment.

"Are you alright?" Smokescreen asked, going over and helping her to her pedes.

Looking up at the mech, she recognised him as the one who had been captured trying to help her. "I'm- I'm... fine, I think..." She felt a bit awkward after having been 'looked after' by Knock Out – who didn't really care about her – to now be asked how she actually felt. It was just a little strange and somewhat of a shock to the senses.

"You're lucky to be alive," he grinned. "The name's Smokescreen by the way. Just so we get our introductions outta the way. What's yours?"

"Um, it's Violetwind," she replied hesitantly. It was the first time she'd said the name out loud and it still didn't feel quite natural and yet somehow it fit.

Either not noticing or simply ignoring her hesitation, the white Autobot grinned and gestured with cuffed hands to the room where they were being kept. "Welcome to my abode. It's not got much but I hope the company will be cheery and with any luck your stay won't be long at all. I'm thinking about ordering some furniture in along with some decorations to brighten the place up."

Violetwind tried to smile, he was being so friendly after all but she could only think about how it was her fault he was in this mess. Her chest felt tight with guilt. Looking down at the floor she asked the question that was plaguing her thoughts. "Why did you try to help me? You didn't have to do that. Look where it's gotten you."

"You were in trouble. You clearly needed help. I wasn't about to let those 'Cons get away with ganging up on you like that! And I would do it all again to make sure a fellow 'Bot is safe. Besides the accommodation's only temporary, we'll get outta here. " replied Smokescreen, surprised that she would even think he wouldn't help her out.

She turned her gaze to meet his, still not sure what to think despite his lack of concern over being captured and held against his will. All she could see on his face was concern over her well-being, not the tiniest bit of fear. Violetwind herself wasn't taking the situation well but she was not sure of anything with her memory loss. "B-but..."

"Hey, it's ok, we're going to be alright," he tried to comfort her.

His concern only added to her emotional confusion, pushing her emotions over the edge. Leaning against the wall she slid to the floor and started to cry. Hiding her face with her hands she sobbed, her shoulders shaking violently.

Smokescreen was shocked at her sudden outburst, at first just staring at her, not sure what to do. After a moment he reacted, slowly crouching down to her level. "Um, Hey," he said softly, resting a hand on her shoulder, doing his best to comfort her "There's no need to worry. You'll be ok. You'll be alright. Just, um... let it all out..."

So that's what she did. The purple femme continued to bawl her optics out as Smokescreen sat beside her doing what he could to alleviate her stress.

It was about a day after Violetwind and Smokescreen were kept together as prisoners aboard the Nemesis that the pair were sitting around in silence. Violet had spent a lot of time resting still weak from her wounds but also tired from being emotional drained. The strange voice in her head had said a few things having - along with Smokescreen - helped pick her back after her tear-fest.

The door suddenly slid open revealing a pair of vehicons. "Hey, femme, Lord Megatron 'requests' your presence."

With worried optics she glanced at Smokescreen before getting up to go with them. The mech locked optics with her in that glance and knew he could not let Megatron possibly harm her again. Making up his mind to act he approached the vehicons. "She's not going anywhere with you!" he yelled as he swung his cuffed hands at one of their heads, knocking him out.

The remaining vehicon was startled by the attack but quickly recovered to bring out its weapons and fire upon the Autobot. Instinctively Smokescreen brought his arms up to shield himself. In this motion one of the trooper's shots hit his cuffs, breaking them. The restraint fell to the floor with a clutter and a grin from their previous captor.

Seeing the opportunity he gladly took it, firing back at the vehicon. After a few shots it was down, the silence in the moments afterward were as if the whole world was holding its breath.

"Come on," Smokescreen urged as he raced over to Violetwind destroying her cuffs with a quick blast from his gun, grabbing her arm.

The femme had been staring at the scene with fright, even now, still enveloped with fear making her movements sluggish as she followed the mech who was pulling her along.

Together they raced through the halls of the Nemesis, knowing it would not take long for the Decepticons to realise their prisoners had escaped. Smokescreen blasted down two more vehicon troopers coming to stand in front of a ship computer terminal. Pressing a few buttons on the keyboard he accessed the computer and a swirling green-blue vortex appeared beside them. "Let's go." He started towards the ground bridge before noticing that Violetwind was not following and turned back to look at her.

It was not hard to read the femme's face. She was staring at the unfamiliar glowing vortex with fear. The strange thing before her was so different to everything she had encountered so far and she was not ready for more surprises.

_Go through_, prompted the voice, which earned a shake of her head and a step back.

"I-I'm not going in that..." she told them.

"Violet, we don't have time to stand around here. Haven't you ever travelled by ground bridge before?"

She shook her head again.

Smokescreen shook his own head and sighed. Going over, he grabbed her arm. "It's not that bad. And it's the quickest way off the ship." They could hear more troopers heading their way and he was not about to let them be caught again. Giving her a firm yank, he got both of them into the ground bridge.

On the other side they stepped out into a canyon. "We don't have time to stop and sight see," stated Smokescreen, urging her to keep going.

Violetwind felt sick after experiencing that interesting way to travel. She just wanted to sit down for a while but managed to keep going at her companion's prompting, stumbling after him.

As they were hurrying away from the ground bridge he lifted a finger to his head and spoke, "Smokescreen to Autobot base. Smokescreen to Autobot base. Hey, is anybody there? I've got 'Cons on my tail and need you to get out here!"

The purple femme looked at him curiously, wondering exactly it was he was doing. Contacting someone or something she guessed

::Smokescreen, what the frag do you think you're doing?:: came a feminine voice, not sounding too pleased.

Violetwind looked over at him in surprise. She had not expected to be able to hear the other side of the conversation.

"Nice to hear from you too, Arcee," Smokescreen chuckled.

Blaster shots went past the pair alerting them to the Decepticons who had pursued them. Quickly they ducked behind some rocks for cover; the white and blue Autobot returning fire. Violetwind did her best to shoot back at the vehicons as well but unfortunately her shots were slow and not well aimed. Silently she cursed her inability to even hit one of them.

The voice sternly admonished her for beating herself up, _You're out of practice. Don't be so hard on yourself._

She sighed, _but would it really be too much to actually be of some use and hit just one?_

Finally Arcee responded to the mech, ::So what's with those 'Cons of yours? I thought you were making friends.::

"Well, it didn't go so well. Right now I'd say they're trying to shoot me. I don't think they like that I left the party early. Perhaps you guys could come over and straighten them out."

"And how do we know it's not a trap?"

::That's right,:: another voice came through the comm link.

::What if those 'Cons are making you say that just to get us there and turn us to scrap,:: grumbled yet another voice.

"Guys, it's not, trust me," returned Smokescreen glancing over at the femme with him.

Violetwind spoke for the first time since they had escaped the Decepticon warship, "Maybe, we should-" but she was cut off by her own cry of pain. One of the vehicons had come up behind them without being noticed, taking the opportunity to shoot her. She slumped to the ground holding the wound where she was leaking energon.

::What was that?:: called out one of the mech's on the comm link in concerned.

Her companion gave the vehicon a furious look before striking it down with a fist to the head. "Please, you have to come. The femme, she's been hurt."

A very deep voice replied, ::We'll arrive shortly, Smokescreen. Ratchet, prepare your medical kit. Bulkhead, stay and work the ground bridge.::

::Optimus, are you sure. It could still be some elaborate trap by the Decepticons,:: Arcee insisted, still doubtful about what was going on. ::I know we want to get them back but...::

::Be that as it may, we cannot risk the life of fellow Autobots. Even if it possibly is a trap as you suggest, we will be ready for them. Autobots, roll out!::

"Thank you, Sir," Smokescreen breathed a sigh of relief. "Help will be here soon," he murmured to Violetwind as she looked up at him.

Pain flooded her senses from the shot wound. She tried to get up but it was too hard. Smokescreen would have to hold off the 'Cons on his own. "I... I'm sorry..."

"It's not your fault."

It was not long before the four Autobots arrived, leaping from the ground bridge with guns at the ready. Immediately they joined the battle, quickly shooting down the Decepticons. Those vehicons that remained alive fled the scene not willing to stick around for a battle they had little chance of winning.

Their enemies having left the Autobots regrouped around the injured femme. Violetwind scrambling back just a little out of fear. She did not know these robots and they were all so big as they surrounded her. Though they did not look like the others from before, they were still strangers and outnumbered her and Smokescreen.

An orange and white one approached first looking down at the blaster wound as it leaked energon, not taking any notice of her uncomfortable reaction to being scrutinised. "We need to get you back to base. Somebody help her to her pedes."

A yellow mech started towards her to help her up when in fear her leg shot out and kicked him in the shin, causing the bot to step back making a few beeping whines in pain. Violetwind only scrambled back a little more and bit her lip, sorry for having hurt him. She hadn't really meant to do that.

Folding her arms the blue femme commented, "Got a bit of spunk there."

Smokescreen rested a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry you can trust them. This is Ratchet, Bumblebee, Arcee and our leader Optimus Prime. They're here to help."

Slowly she nodded, this time allowing the Bumblebee and Smokescreen to help her up.

Ratchet glanced over at Optimus, the two old friends sharing a brief look which went unnoticed by the others before he commed back to base, "Bulkhead, open the ground bridge."

Almost immediately the swirling vortex appeared beside them. Ratchet headed through first followed closely by the two mechs and Violetwind as they helped her along. Arcee was next disappearing into the ground bridge.

Optimus was left alone for a moment, a thoughtful look on his face as he stared after the Autobots. The purple femme looked awfully familiar. She was not one he thought he would see again for some time, let alone on some place like Earth. He stepped into the vortex, wondering what she was doing there.

Back at the Autobot base the rest of them stepped through, Ratchet quickly directing the two bots to bring Violetwind to the medical bay. While the bridge closed as Optimus finally walked through.

Miko rushed up as soon as she saw the newcomer. "Awesome a new 'Bot! Those 'Cons really better be scared now that we've got another one for Team Prime!"

The purple femme regarded the human curiously but did not reply, not even getting the chance as the girl kept talking hardly pausing for a breath.

"How did you get to Earth? Was it your spaceship they found crashed? That thing had some landing! Did you steal it from the 'Cons? What was it like being captured on the warship? What-"

She was cut off by the irritable medic, "Miko! I have things to do! Stop pestering my patient!"

"Well fine, Mr. Grumpybot. C'mon, Bulk, let's go play some music." The girl stalked off followed by her large lumbering green friend.

"The rest of you can get going too," Ratchet snapped.

Optiums calmly addressed the medic, "Let us know if you require anything, old friend."

Ratchet nodded in reply. "And Smokescreen, don't go far. You'll be getting a check-up after I'm done here."

The bots and humans started to leave, allowing Violetwinds's fear of the crowd to ebb a little but she quickly made a squeak as Smokescreen started to leave. He was the only one there she knew, the only one she knew she could trust after all he had done. "Smokescreen..." she called quietly, too weak for anything louder than a whisper.

At the sound of his name, the mech turned to her, "Just let the doc take care of you. Like I said, you can trust them."

Wanting to believe him she relaxed back onto the medical bay berth. The events of the past few days overcame her and she fell into recharge before Smokescreen even had time to leave the room.

Out in the main room Autobots and humans alike all looked over at the white mech. Seeing that all eyes and optics were on him, Smokescreen put on a smile. "So... You've all been having fun while I've been away?" He tried to laugh but it was forced and sounded weak even to him.

Arcee was the first to speak, her tone clipped as she walked up to him fist raised, "Just what do you think you were doing, Smokescreen!"

"Woah, don't go all crazy on me!" He held his arms up to shield himself from the potential attack.

She glared at him but backed off, "Is she the reason why you helping the 'Cons? Who is she anyway?"

"She is and I don't really know who she is, just that her name is Violetwind. All I know is that the 'Cons were after her when I came by on patrol."

"Confronting the enemy alone was not a wise decision, Smokescreen," Optimus Prime addresses the young mech.

Hanging his head in shame he replied, "I know, Optimus, sir." He lifted his head to look up at his commander. "But she was being hammered by the 'Cons, even Megatron was there. I couldn't leave her! Someone needed to teach those 'Cons a lesson!"

Beeps came from the yellow bot as he added his input.

"I tried. Communications were down. The 'Cons must have been jamming the signal. So I didn't have much of a choice..." the rookie muttered.

Jack spoke up asking, "So what happened to you guys?"

Smokescreen recounted the tale of how he went to investigate a commotion and spotted the Decepticons going after Violetwind. He had tried to contact base but was unable get through and so took things into his own hands. Storming into the cave he tore through the troopers, coming across Megatron before they got the best of him when the Decepticon leader downed the femme and took them both captive. He explained how Knock Out threatened to offline her if he did not go on that raid with them. After that though they didn't desire his help again and later brought Violet to his cell, though she was still weak. He told of how he led their escape, bravely fighting back the Decepticons and getting them off the ship, before contacting the base.

"And there you have it," Smokescreen grinned proudly finishing his story.

Arcee glanced over at the silent Optimus Prime. He was carrying an expression she could not read. "Optimus, is something wrong?"

He was quiet a moment before looking over the team of Autobots in front of him as he held their attention. "I am merely pondering the reason for Violetwind's arrival on this planet."

"Do you know of her, Optimus?" asked the young human Rafael.

The leader nodded. "There was a time on Cybertron when we had met."

Everyone looked at the Prime with surprise and confusion.

"Optimus?!"

* * *

I hope you shall not be too harmed by this little cliffhanger of which I leave you. May you survive the week you have to wait. :D


	4. Chapter 4

And so we have it you'll all get to find out a little more about our main character.  
I have to say, I was a little undecided about this chapter and whether or not to go with an actual flashback or as what I ended up doing, having Optimus tell it. Ended up doing it this way, not wishing to go too much into detail as a flashback would need. Maybe that's a story for another time ;)  
Note: chapter has been edited as of 30/11/14

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Chapter 4

All eyes and optics were staring up at Optimus Prime expectantly. He was slightly amused by their looks of surprise when he mentioned that he had met Violetwind before. Everyone seemed to shocked into silence, all except Miko.

The young girl looked up at him with her hands on her hips, "You gonna dish on what you know and how you met her?"

The red and blue Autobot leader had no plans of keeping it from them. He had in face been expecting them to ask. Hiding a smile he replied, "If you are willing to listen, I shall recount to you our meeting. But first, I shall share of what I know of her past, leading up to our initial encounter.

"Before the war Violetwind was a scientist back in Crystal city, Though perhaps an engineer would be more fitting. Most of her time was spend conducting unprofitable, repetitive experiments, things that served no true purpose. She found these studies tedious and of no value, desiring more from her work. Our visitor wished to do more in the fields of creating new tools. Tools that would help out the other scientists to go their jobs better."

"Boring!" Miko interrupted, "When do we get to the good stuff,".

"Miko!" snapped Jack, willing her to be quiet.

"Go on, Optimus," encouraged Rafael, ignoring his friend's rudeness.

Taking the floor once more he continued, though doing his best to keep it to the necessary details. "When the stirrings of unrest about Cyberton's caste system flooded through the populous, Violetwind was swept up along with it. Like most, she was caught up in the smooth words of the gladiator calling out for change."

The Prime paused for a moment as he reflected on the time of which he spoke. It was a time when he, like so many others, wanted change in the High Council and their inadequate caste system believing, as the people did, in the outspoken gladiator. One whom he had once thought of as a brother...

"As you know, the gladiator, Megatronus, gathered many to his side with his promise of bringing equality to the Cybertronian population."

"Megatron..." Jack muttered, recalling what they had been been told of Cybertron's past.

Optimus nodded. "Violetwind explained to me how his words had instilled hope in her. He promised freedom and change, making so many believe in him. Then, when the war began, she joined with the Decepticons."

"What?! You mean she's a 'Con and we let her in here!" Miko burst out, waving her arms.

"Hey, she's no 'Con! I'd swear my spark on that!" Smokescreen glared at the human girl. The purple femme he rescued acted like no Decepticon.

"Yeah, well that's probably just cause you're just a... a lovesick puppy! Taken in by her sweet act!" Miko yelled at him.

"Why you!-"

"Stop. There will be no more slandering of anyone," Optimus' deep commanding voice broke into the argument. H rested a hand on Smokescreen, giving each of them a hard look.

"Yes, sir..." The mech dropped his gaze.

"Yes, Optimus..." Miko grumbled, not looking up at him.

"Very well. Before you judge any further, may I finish the story you desired to hear?"

Both nodded silently.

"Violetwind initially joined up with the Decepticons. There she served as a weapon scientist under Shockwave, Megatron's head scientist. She served with vigour, truly believing she was helping fight for a better Cybertron but as a scientist she was not directly involved in any of the conflict going on around the planet. It stands to reason, she was not well aware of the true conditions of the war. Megatron thought it best none of his scientists except Shockwave know the truth. Even then, I do wonder how much he actually knew of all his head scientist's endeavours. Shockwave had little ethics or morality, although, in that regard perhaps, Megatron was not so different.

"Violetwind spoke of Shockwave's increasingly sadistic experiments. Some of the things she witnessed she could not fully tell me about as they were too horrible for her to re-live. She began to question if they were going about creating change in the right way. This in itself may have been dangerous had she not learnt of Megatron's true nature and she made the decision to leave the Decepticon cause. This she accomplished with no ease. With great bravery she escaped from the secret laboratories hidden deep within Decepticon territory, having to fight her way out and not before she had left them a parting gift. One I am sure Shockwave did not appreciate as he lost half of his laboratory due to it."

"Go, Vi!" Miko received a few glares for interrupting again. Rolling her eyes she waved her hand dismissively, "Go on."

"Once leaving, Violetwind travelled alone and in secret, continuing to make her way to Iacon. To the Autobots. To hope." The Prime's tone saddened, "Unfortunately, when she did enter Autobot territory, it did not get any easier for her. The Decepticon symbols on her shoulders marked her as a hostile, the Autobot troops not taking her presence well. It was war. And at the time we could not risk even one Decepticon infiltrating our ranks. Energon supplies were dwindling and unfortunately she had chosen to try and enter close to one of the few energon springs we still held.

"The fight was brief, Violetwind wishing to surrender herself to the Autobots stationed there. Naturally they were wary and did not trust her, even if she didn't fight back. But the femme was adamant and one Autobot, named Jazz. He was my old friend. He alone wished to trust her after her explanation of how she got there and how she wished to defect. Jazz believed that she should be given a chance. The others were not as convinced and wanted to bring her back as a prisoner. Yet, some others disagreed, believing she should be terminated. They had already judged her without knowing her."

Optimus glanced down at Miko. "Ok, ok, I think I know what you're getting at. Don't judge before getting to know someone."

Although he did not care for her tone, he nodded and continued. "I clearly remember when Jazz called in about the dilemma. Through the comm link I could easily hear her in the background. She was giving the soldiers a good tongue lashing about the ideals the Autobots proclaimed to have, and how not giving her a chance meant they were being just like the very Decepticons they were fighting against."

The mech allowed a small smile to play on his lips as he remembered his old friend. "I shall never forget what Jazz said to me with his smooth accent, which I cannot replicate. 'OP,' he said, 'she is a real live one. She sure seems to be giving them mechs all spark attacks just from her fierceness. I think we could use her if she's genuine. She could win the war on her own.'

"Of course, I was not confident in bringing someone like her into our ranks but I could see no real reason why she should not be given a chance. And, I allowed Jazz to bring her to our capital. Once she arrived I allowed her to be brought to me. I wished to meet this femme who was causing so much trouble for my soldiers. Due to the others distrust of her she was brought in in cuffs, which I could tell displeased her. Even so she strode forward with confidence, Jazz walking beside her. At the door were some of the Autobot soldiers that brought her in, all curious to know what was to become of her. Wishing for some privacy, I dismissed them with a 'back to your duties' command and a hard glare, ordering the door to be closed. Jazz stayed behind, though, leaning casually against a wall.

"Before me stood Violetwind, determination set on her face. Before I could finish collecting my thoughts to speak, she boldly began, 'Optimus Prime. So I have made it to the presence of the famous Prime... Are you like your slagging mechs, judging me for the symbol that resides on my armour? I am not proud of some of my actions during this war as I realised the truth. But I am here now wishing to make a change. Though you may not be the side which appears to be winning, _yours_, is the one I want to fight for, Optimus Prime. I believe yours is the one who truly wants freedom. I no longer believe in Megatron and his ability to bring about the change we need. His "freedom through tyranny," is not something I wish to be a part of. I want to become one of your Autobots. If you cannot permit me to join your ranks than I request that you keep me prisoner. I can only imagine I'm wanted dead by the Cons after what I've done. Though, whatever you decide to do with me, I'm willing to share whatever knowledge about the Decepticons I have.'

"After she was done, the silence grew to be like a heavy weight, pressing around the three of us. Not one of us moved a servo. Finally Jazz spoke, moving up to stand beside Violetwind as he did so, 'I don't know about you but she has got my vote.' I admit it brought a smile to my face and I agreed with him. We removed her restraint and accepted her to our side, assigning her a spot under Jazz with his squad.

"Naturally some of my council did not approve but unlike them, I had seen the determination in her optics and was not about to deny her a chance to fix what she believed she needed set right. So from then on Violetwind trained under Jazz, which was less practice and more on the job training as they fought Decepticons. There was not much time to set aside for anything, other than fighting, during the war. We were outnumbered and out gunned meaning nobody had the time to even get much rest. It was a good thing she was a fast learner, picking up fighting techniques of those she fought alongside and sometimes even those she fought against. Unfortunately in the optics of some she would remain a Decepticon..."

"You mean those Bots still didn't trust her after all she went through?! Even as she fought with them!" cried out Miko.

"So you like her now?," commented Jack, looking over at the girl with a raised eyebrow.

"She's got spirit, so yeah,. I am allowed to do _that_, right?" replied the younger teenager.

Optimus looked down at the young human who seemed to have reversed her opinion of their newcomer. "Yes, Miko. And, yes, most did not trust her story. If they could not trust her story, then in their optics she must not be be genuine. They considered her to be a spy and as such alienated her."

"Well, that's not fair!" whined the girl.

"You are correct. It is not, but it was, how it was. It would not have been the first time the Decepticons had tried to sneak spies into our ranks, although they did not usually do so as she did, still carrying their insignias and declaring a change of allegiance." Optimus replied before continuing his story.

"Quite some time passed from the day I first met her until our paths crossed again. Jazz's team had been on a particularly difficult mission, scouting one of the energon springs we were hoping to reclaim. When they returned they were badly damaged. Decepticons had spotted them and quickly overwhelmed the small group.

"After they had received medical treatment from our own Ratchet, Jazz came to report to me. Bringing Violetwind with him, he proclaimed how vital she had been. He earnestly praised her quick thinking which saved the entire team. I could see that she was embarrassed by the praise. Even so, Jazz still proudly boasted of how she had taken on the Decepticon warriors mostly on her own after the others were beaten down and forced to cover, with hardly any chance to retaliate. Violetwind had snuck around and taken them on in hand to hand combat, giving enough of a distraction for the rest of her team to break cover and defeat the Decepticons.

"The femme tried to brush it off as something that anyone else would have done in her position. Still I commended her on her bravery and helping bring those Autobots back alive, which was always a victory for us. I also personally thanked her for helping bring back my old friend. Jazz was especially glad for this too.

"Even after this, however, Violetwind did not receive any gratitude or acceptance from other Autobots. They were still convinced she was untrustworthy, a spy for the Decepticons, perhaps even the very reason that group were spotted. This served to destroy her confidence in herself, as well as in what she was fighting for.

"I came across her again one day as she was relieving some stress with the walls, she was not winning. I went over to speak with her but she tried to hide what was troubling her. Though it did not do her any good. Eventually I coaxed her into confiding in me. I guess I should have know just how much the other Autobots distrust of her was upsetting her. I remember her shouting in frustration. 'What do I have to do to earn their respect!' Speaking with her I came up with a solution. Though it would not change others opinions of her it would give her a better group to fight in. One where they would be less likely to judge.

"Before I was able to do that however, I needed to make sure that it would work and so called in another friend of mine, Elita One. She was one of my commanding officers, leading a team of female Autobots. Elita One was surprised when I sent word for her to come and see me..."

The Prime paused, momentarily lost in his thoughts of the past. Mentioning her name had caused a pain in his spark, a myriad of emotions returning to the surface. It has been so long...

"Optimus?" Rafael broke in after a minute of silence, concerned about the leader.

"Are you all right there?" asked Jack.

Blinking a few times Optimus came back to reality. "Yes. Yes, I am fine. I apologise for that. Let me continue...

"Elita One arrived and immediately came to see me. After a brief reunion I explained the situation to her. At first she was hesitant but agreed to meet Violetwind before she decided. There was nothing to be worried about. The two hit it off as soon as they were finished their introductions, chatting away like old friends. It pleased me to see her fitting in and it was decided that Violetwind would join Elita One's squad. When the pair left it was the last time I saw the her. From then on she fought with those she could trust and that trusted her.

"I had not heard from her personally again after that, only hearing from Elita One before our exodus from Cybertron. She told me Violetwind had adjusted well to her new team. They were to head off world together, finding somewhere to settle until we could return. I had not heard from them since leaving Cybertron, nor was I aware of their location. As such, I do not know why she may have arrived on this planet alone."

The Prime looked toward the medical bay, hoping that when she awoke, the newcomer might be able to supply them with some answers...

* * *

I hope you liked this chapter. I took a lot of inspiration from the Transformers: Exodus book and, the Transformers War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron games (you sick sick robot Shockwave).


	5. Chapter 5

Again thanks to those who have shown interest in my story! I'm already having so much fun writing it and it just multiplies my joy to know that others are liking it too. :D  
So here's the next chapter!

* * *

Chapter 5

Everyone was quiet after Optimus had finished his retelling of the past, all that he had said slowly sinking in.

Eventually Miko spoke up breaking the silence, "I say we've got ourselves a great new member for Team Prime. Once Ratchet has her back on her feet, those 'Cons better watch out!"

Bulkhead chuckled, "Well if Miko thinks so then I agree."

The voiceless scout beeped and whirred, '

"Me too Bee, if she's been fighting with the Autobots this long I don't see why we can't trust her," added Rafael.

"I can see why Megatron might have wanted her now," mused the two wheeler. "Perhaps a little revenge and a whole lot of use in the weapons department. Think she helped the 'Cons any?"

Smokescreen groaned softly, "She may have done... She mentioned that they used a cortical psychic patch on her. Imagine having Megatron in your head like that. Ugh..."

Bumblebee made a few angry noises waving his hands in the direction of the rookie, mentioning the time the Decepticon leader had inhabited his own mind for a time.

The younger bot lifted his hands in defence, "Woah, sorry didn't know! That must have been crazy."

The bot made a few more annoyed whirs and clicks.

"It's ok, Bee, you weren't to know Megatron would follow you back into your own head and you did get the antidote to save Optimus," Raf reassured the bot, calming his partner down.

"Our scout was invaluable in my recovery." Optimus agreed. His thoughts turned back to his unfinished tasks, including decoding the remaining Iacon database coordinates. With a nod to the group he bid them farewell for the time being, getting back to the computer.

The rest of them soon followed, falling away to their own tasks and talks. While the others did that Smokescreen headed back to the medical bay for Ratchet to check over him, not wishing for the doctor to be even more irritable with him than usual.

It was some time later when Violetwind awoke. Ratchet had long since finished fixing her up and left her to continue her recharge. In that time he had checked over Smokescreen, and found him in no need of repairs. The medic had then left him in charge of waiting for the femme to wake up, saying that a familiar face would be good for her.

"How're you feeling?" he greeted her warmly.

Looking about the unfamiliar surroundings she forgot about his question, asking one of her own, "Where am I?"

"You're safe in the Autobot's base, among friends. You've been patched up too, so the doc said to take it easy," the rookie answered.

The femme sighed and relaxed, closing her optics, so glad most of the pain was gone. Knock Out had not treated her this well but she believed it was more a lack of interest in her well-being rather than a lack of proper knowledge. Suddenly her optics burst to life again as a thought struck her. "Is it ok me being here? I-I don't want to be a burden on those I don't even know..."

Smokescreen snorted. "Of course not!" he reassured her. "Oh hey, the boss bot wanted to talk to you once you woke up. Think you're up to speaking with him?"

The thought of speaking with the leader actually frightened her but she slowly nodded. Obviously she could not really turn down the person in charge, not after they had helped her out.

"Great," he turned on his comm link, "Optimus, sir, she's awake now."

The reply came almost immediately, "I will be their momentarily, Smokescreen" before clicking off.

"Prime told us he met you back on Cybertron," Smokescreen tried to make a bit of conversation before Optimus arrived.

"I did?" she uttered confused.

The white mech stared back at her in his own confusion. "Don't you remember?"

The purple femme shook her head. Not knowing her past was being quite the bother and in a few moments could turn out to be more than a little embarrassing.

"But-?" he started before he was interrupted by Optimus Prime's arrival.

The tall mech nodded in greeting to both of them before walking over to Violetwind's berth. She tried to sit up and look more presentable to him. "No, don't strain yourself." His voice was so deep and commanding she felt she had no choice but to obey. So laying back down she looked up at him, worry clearly showing in her optics. He was the leader here, and that made her nervous, not sure why he would want to talk with her. Though Smokescreen had said that she used to know him, perhaps he wanted to talk about old times. This only made her more nervous because she did not remember anything before a few days ago.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Um, I'm feeling much better, thank you."

"Ratchet tells me it will not be long before you are moving around again," Optimus commented.

"Ratchet?" she repeated not recalling the name.

"You know, the doc that helped fix you up," responded Smokescreen, "I introduced you to him earlier, after they fought off the 'Cons."

"Oh, yes, him..."

Optimus looked thoughtful. He knew for a fact that Violetwind had met Ratchet before, along with himself. It did not make sense why she would not remember him now.

"Smokescreen, would you please allow us to talk privately," the leader politely asked the young soldier to leave.

"Yes, Optimus," standing he gave nod before waving to the femme, "I'll come see you again later. Can't have our newest member getting lonely!"

Waving goodbye she squirmed a little, not sure what to think now that she and Optimus were alone. Her optics glanced at him briefly before looking away, focusing on the pattern on the wall.

"Violetwind," his voice was calm and slow, "Why did you come to Earth?"

She did not know what to say, "I- I don't, um, really know... sir..."

A moment of silence passed as Optimus considered his next step. Once he made a decision he spoke again, "Do you remember me?"

"O-only from e-earlier today. You were with those who came to help me and Smokescreen." Glancing up at him nervously she asked, "Did I know you before then?"

He nodded before asking another question, "What is it you do remember?"

"Um, not much actually..."

Violetwind slowly recounted what had happened since she awoke in the woods: the fateful incident and the subsequent capture by Megatron, his use of the cortical psychic patch and finally her and Smokescreen's escape from the Decepticons. She explained that she had actually be a little afraid to admit her memory loss to anyone along with the voice in her head that had been talking to her and so had avoided brining up the subject with Smokescreen during their capture.

Optimus listened quietly taking it all in, his processor going over the information. When she was done he stood, "Thank you for sharing that information with me." A small smile lifted his face, yet his optics remained thoughtful with a hint of sadness. "We shall see that a room is set up for you that you may use once you are well enough to leave the medical bay."

"Thank you, Optimus Prime, Sir."

He walked out of the medical bay, leaving the femme wringing her fingers, wondering what they were going to do with her. She had determined that they were in a war and a bot who could not even remember how to defend herself would not be of much use to them.

_Optimus..._

"So we do know him? You going to tell me anything?" she muttered quietly to herself.

_Just that he's a good leader. You can trust him._

The femme did not respond to her voice at first. Blue optics glanced back at where she had last seen the tall mech thinking over what little she knew of him. She felt a little bit of comfort, believing the voice. "Yeah... he seems like a good person..."

Upon leaving the medical bay Optimus Prime returned to the main hub of the base, where most of the Autobots were situated.

Seeing the leader, Miko quickly jumped up and went over to him, "So can we meet the new bot now?"

"I think it would be wise to wait." Moving off before the girl had a chance to respond, he called over to the medic, "Ratchet, I need a word with you."

"Of course, Optimus," he replied.

The two of them walked off into the halls, leaving the humans and Autobots wonder what was going on.

"What was that about?" asked Jack, his gaze staring after the retreating figures.

Arcee merely shrugged, not knowing either.

Bulkhead wondered out loud, "Think it has anything to do with the new femme?"

"I saw we go say hi!"

"Miko! Didn't you hear Optimus?" chided Jack.

She whined, "Yeah but it can't hurt to go see her right? Come on!" Then before anyone could stop her, the girl was running towards the medical bay, determined to properly meet the new Autobot. The desire to meet this Violetwind was very much driven by her thirst for stories about battles and after what Optimus had told them, the femme should have some great ones.

When she turned the corner she saw that someone had beaten her to the punch, or rather two someone's. "Hey," she called out earning their attention.

Bumblebee was sitting beside Violetwind, with Rafael on his upturned palm.

"Oh hey, Miko," greeted the boy.

The yellow Autobot beeped a greeting as well.

Turning back to the wounded bot, Rafael introduced her to the girl. "Violet, this is Miko. We were just telling you about her."

"Um, well, hello there Miko," she spoke, waving shyly at their visitor.

Walking over, she climbed onto the berth. "All good stuff I hope."

The purple femme nodded quickly, not willing to admit that perhaps not all of it was that good. From what Raf had told her, Miko was constantly getting into trouble and dragging the other human children into it.

Having followed the headstrong girl, Jack, Arcee and Bulkhead came along as well. Looks of surprise lit up all their faces as they saw Bumblebee and Raf already situated there.

Giving a defeated sigh, the older boy gave a shrug and climbed up onto the berth with Miko. Looking over the purple femme, he asked, "I guess your feeling better?"

"I am, thank you. It's really nice not to be anchored to the table this time too," she replied earning grins from everyone around her.

Raf went on to point out each of the newcomers. "So that's Jack and Arcee and Bulkhead."

"Um, hey," she muttered giving them a wave.

They slipped into an easy conversation. The Autobots shared a few tales and some laughs as they recalled the funny moments of life.

Miko had just finished telling them about something that happened to her at school earning a round of laughter when Ratchet walked in.

He spluttered a few times in shock at seeing them all there before recovering to yell at them. "What are you doing in here?! Out! All of you! Out!" Shooing them out he yelled some more, "My patient needs her rest!"

Quickly everyone scurried out, not wishing to mess with the grumpy medic.

Miko called back before she left, "We'll bust you out real soon!"

The others called out goodbyes as well and hopes for her to get well soon.

"Doesn't anyone know how to follow orders," the medic grumbled as the sounds of them leaving faded.

With a look of disappointment after her visitors, Violetwind, silently wished they did not have to leave. They were having such a good time. Now alone with Ratchet, she was not feeling so comfortable and it certainly was not as fun.

Walking over to her side, he continued to grumble under his breath, the femme only able to catch a single word, "Insubordinates..."

Finally he turned his full attention to his patient, calming himself down and doing his best to sound a little more amicable. "Optimus, told me you've got some memory trouble."

"Mhmm," she nodded.

"I'm just going to give you a quick head scan. Nothing invasive like those Decepticons though," he said, bringing a cable to her head and anchoring it in place before going back to his screens.

"I-I guess he told you what happened then? And about that, um... the voice I've been hearing?" she asked hesitantly.

"Mmm, yes, yes..." he muttered, letting a moment of silence pass before he continued, "Well good news, I believe you memories are intact but..."

"But?" she prompted, not sure if she really wanted to know what was wrong.

"You seem to have an internal memory block, which is stopping you from freely accessing your past memories. It- hmm... I wonder..."

Violetwind looked curiously over at the mech. The silence grew as the seconds ticked by and he did not respond, leaving her to wonder about what he had started to say. Unable take the nerves building up in her any longer she broke the silence, "Um, what is it?"

Ratchet turned to her, "I think that perhaps that voice might have something to do with your block. Maybe part of your past personality coming through the block. But I don't really know. Then again it might but it might not actually have anything to do with your inability to access your past memories."

She took a few seconds to let it sink in, processing what he had just told her. "Is there anything you can do?" the femme looked up at him expectantly.

"I do not believe so. It is too integrated into your processor, and would be dangerous to try anything. We can only hope that you will regain access to your memories with time..."

With a frown, she sighed, leaning back and closing her optics. Things were not looking good. Her memories were locked away, possibly having something to do with the very voice that liked to show up randomly. That was just great...

Looking back over at Ratchet, she asked, "What could have caused it?"

"Well, I've never encountered anything for this sort before. Memory loss instances usually occur from head trauma causing physical damage, or through some terrible experience that they block out completely but nothing quite like what you have," the medic told her, rather perplexed by her condition. He turned back to his computer screens.

_Would you really want to get rid of me?_ The voice broke in jokingly.

_I would – surely it would be better to have my memories than you._

_I think I'm offended,_ it scoffed teasingly before trying to comfort her, _With time you will remember, just not today but someday._

_Does that mean you know?! You are from my memories?! Are you part of what's blocking them?! Why would you do that? _

It did not reply.

Her optics narrowed. "Mmph, you're so annoying..." she mumbled quietly.

Ratchet turned his head, "Did you say something?"

"Um, no..."

The mech turned back to his work shaking his head, wondering about the sanity of their new addition.

* * *

Till next time guys! Till all are one.


	6. Chapter 6

And we get our first episode tie in chapter! Obviously I don't own that stuff. :(  
Hope you enjoy this one!

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Chapter 6

It was not until the next day that the medical bay was filled once again with visitors to see the latest Autobot arrival to Earth. Everyone had been informed of Violetwind's memory loss and instructed not to ask questions regarding her past so as to not distress her. With this in mind, Miko, Jack, Raf and their Autobot partners were recounting tales of some of their missions on Earth.

"So there I was with two bots who were stuck to each other and I couldn't even use my phone to take a picture of it!" Miko yelled in exasperation

"I'm glad you didn't. I don't need any more reminders about when I was the eyes on Bulkhead's back," Arcee sent the girl an unamused glare, her arms folded.

The yellow scout whirred and beeped, something akin to a chuckle, Raf joining in as well. "I agree Bee, it would have been pretty funny."

Nods and chuckles went around as they pictured Arcee dangling from Bulkhead's back.

"Only cause it wasn't you anchored to somebody," snapped the blue femme, light-heartedly.

"Hey, we beat the 'Cons and got the polarising gauntlet," interrupted the green mech, "so it turned out alright in the end. Even if it was a bit 'sticky,' during it." He chuckled lightly.

Arcee shot him a slight glare while the rest of them laughed.

A voice interrupted the group's fun. "You guys having a party without me? I thought you knew that a party doesn't really start until I arrive!" It was Smokescreen, grinning away as he entered.

"Smokey!" Miko greeted.

"Hey, Smokescreen. I guess we were just keeping the place warm for you then," Jack spoke to the newcomer, the twinkle of a smirk in his eyes.

"Come on and join us, Smoke," welcomed the girl.

The mech grinned, "Don't mind if I do." Looking over at Violetwind he asked, "How're you doing, Violet?"

"I'm feeling much better, thanks," she replied. Glancing around at her the Autobots and humans she smiled, "The surroundings are much nicer here. Company is much more friendly too."

The voiceless scout chirped happily at the compliment, "Good to know we aren't like the 'Con's."

"Yeah, I like to think I'm good to look at too," jested the cocky rookie.

While everyone else chuckled, Arcee started to chide the mech, "Smokescreen-"

He broke her off, "When you've got it you've got it."

The blue femme groaned, but Violetwind was giggling, finding the bots interactions amusing.

_I wish everyone was as welcoming as these guys._

_Have we come across those that weren't?_ Violetwind questioned her inner voice.

_Yeah._

_Was it bad?_

_It could've been worse but we made it through..._

Before there was any time to continue with their antics (or Violetwind her inner conversation) they were interrupted by Optimus Prime. "Autobots, I require you to divide into teams."

"I'm team one! Whose with me?" Smokescreen jumped in quickly. Even after rescuing Violetwind he was still eager to prove his worth to the team.

"I'll go," Arcee spoke up next, already heading out to the ground bridge.

"Bye everyone," Smokescreen waved, "I'll be back before you know it with the relic." Catching up to the two wheeler he stayed behind a little, allowing her to go in first. "After you, sir. Err, ma'am?"

The femme just groaned lightly with a roll of her optics as they stepped into the vortex.

The remaining Autobots went back to chatting. Bumblebee chattered away in trills and whirs with Raf translating for Jack and Miko, and also Violetwind. She was a little slow to translate what he was saying in her head but was quickly learning. While they talked on, the purple femme wondered what they were going after. There was something going on she did not know about. Something that seemed to hold particular importance for their group.

...

When the two Autobots rolled out of the ground bridge they were on high alert, drawing out their weapons, holding their guns charged and at the ready.

Looking about Smokescreen checked for the presence of Decepticons but there was nothing to indicate they were there. "First ones here."

"And no locater beacon, which means the relic's still buried." Arcee looked down at the scanner in her hand, consulting the screen, "Right about... there," she nodded in the direction of some ancient pyramids.

Together they headed towards it, keeping alert and walking in silence. That was until the mech did the inevitable and broke it, asking casually "So what do you think of the new femme?"

"She'll be a great help to us if she can fight like Prime said she used to," replied Arcee. She turned to give him a hard look, "But you know you acted recklessly trying to rescue her on your own. You could have gotten yourself killed and we would have had no idea of her existence on Earth. Team Prime can't afford any casualties. I've already lost two seasoned partners. I don't need to add a rookie on my scorecard."

"Yeah. I know that," he lamented as they walked. Putting a hand to his chest he promised, "And not gonna happen. Elite guardsman's honour." A short moment passed before realisation hit the mech about her last words. "Wait, you lost two partners?"

The blue femme smirked, wondering if this made him worried at all but she did not look back to check his face.

They entered the human ruins, the tunnel just too small for Smokescreen to stand up in. He had to bend forward, ducking his head so it did not scrape on the roof. "Nice of the humans to pile all of these rocks on top of our relic, huh?" he joked dryly, his voice the only thing in the quiet other than their footsteps.

Walking along, Arcee guided them closer to the Omega Key with the scanner. Before long they came across some pictures etched in the stone wall; it was of some humans and an object they clearly revered. They had found their ancient cybertronian artefact.

"Well, that spells things out doesn't it?" Smokescreen grinned.

The femme did not respond to him, instead nodding to the large stone. "Come on, help me move this."

Working together they heaved out the stone to find that which they were searching for; the first of the Omega Keys. The pair grinned at one another. Team Prime was on its way to restoring Cybertron. Once they had all four, their home planet would be able to support life again.

Smokescreen picked it up and they started making their way back out. "The ancient humans must have thought that the Omega Key was a gift from the gods," he smiled in amusement.

Nodding with a wry grin, the blue femme added, "And in a sense, they weren't wrong."

Stepping out of the ruins they were ready to bridge back to base when they were confronted with an unexpected sight in the waning light. Waiting for them was the Decepticon leader.

"The relic. Now," demanded Megatron.

The rookie took a stance that was ready for battle. "Two against one. We can take him," the mech said confidently.

Grinning maliciously the Decepticon drew a long purple glowing sword from his back. The two Autobots looked upon it, their optics wide with both awe and horror. I glowed like it was made of dark energon.

"Ratchet! Ground bridge, now!" Arcee yelled into her comm link, realising the power in Megatron's new weapon.

Showing off said power, the silver mech swung the blade through the air releasing a purple wave of energy which hit both the bots. Knocked back and tumbling through the air, the Omega Key flew from Smokescreen's grasp.

Rolling to a stop, he groaned. Shaking his head he quickly got to his pedes. Once upright he drew his weapons, firing upon their enemy as he ran towards the Decepticon.

Arcee was a little slower to recover from the hit but she too quickly sat up adding her shots at Megatron.

None of their blasts actually reached him though; each one deflected with a single flick of his new blade. Megatron grinned; he liked his new weapon. The white mech was approaching fast but he was not worried. Slicing through the air the Decepticon sent another energy wave at Smokescreen before the mech got too close. Unable to avoid it, the Autobot was sent flying.

Arcee could only watch in shock as he slammed into the side of a pyramid, a cloud of dust created upon his impact. "Smokescreen!" she shouted her optics filled with disbelief. The tightness she felt in her chest was about ready to consume her. She was unable to fully comprehend that she had just witnessed the death of the rookie but when the dust settled nothing of the former Autobot remained.

The femme slowly stood, her head hanging in sorrow, hardly paying attention as Megatron picked up the key.

"What manner of treasure did Iacon send us this time?" his gravelly voice asked approaching the female Autobot. Using the tip of his sword Megatron lifted her chin so that she was looking up at him. "I would slice you in two right now but I need you to deliver a message. Tell Optimus Prime that if he wants this relic, he must come and claim it himself. And make sure he brings with him that which belongs to me. I would like back what that young Autobot stole. We had her first and will have her again. Knock Out would like her 'advice' in some things."

Dropping his sword from her, the mech threw the relic into the ground, where it stuck like a spear. Slowly Arcee plodded off, calling for a ground bridge and stepping inside.

Walking alone back into the base, she tried to think of a way to tell the others about Smokescreen but nothing came to mind. All she could do was look up into the expectant faces of the Autobots – their humans having been taken home. The grief in her optics told her all they needed to know. No one uttered a word, knowing that the mech would not be walking through the bridge.

Optimus dropped his head, letting out a deep groan of sorrow for the loss of the young bot. Ratchet was the next to move, making his way over to Arcee wanting to check her over for injuries.

Suddenly a chipper voice broke the silence. "I heard the ground bridge and thought I'd come out and see if the mission was a success." It was Violetwind, having taken it upon herself to get off her berth and find her way into the main hub.

Everyone turned to looked at her; her bright smile faded upon seeing their sombre faces. Noticing that a certain someone was missing she tried to ask but her voice cracked when she did, "Smokescreen?"

Nobody said a word but then again they did not have to. A pain shot through her chest like someone had kicked her with all of their might. Smokescreen was gone...

The femme's legs buckled, dropping her to the floor. The Autobots all rushed over, Bumblebee and Bulkhead supporting her as they helped her back to her pedes.

"You shouldn't be out and about yet anyway," scolded Ratchet, albeit half-heartedly.

_Ratchet can go frag himself_ the voice suddenly grumbled, sounding very irritable.

Neither Ratchet's nor the voice's words mattered to her though. All Violetwind's mind could think of right then was one thing, everything else was lost on her. "He's... he's gone..."


	7. Chapter 7

Good think I do my final proofreading, before the new chapter goes up, the day before because I decided to change a chunk of it to flow better otherwise it would be late! (Still think it could use some work though :/)

* * *

Chapter 7

The Autobots gathered around Arcee, the femme explaining what had happened. Each one was stricken with grief at the news. No one could say that loosing the boisterous young mech had not affected them. It was hard to accept that they had lost one of their own.

"And then Smokescreen was just... gone. Like he had turned to dust..." finished the two wheeler, her gaze turning sadly to the ground.

"Poor kid," muttered Bulkhead.

Ratchet tried to console her, "Arcee, do not blame yourself. It could just have easily been you."

Meanwhile, sitting propped up by the wall was Violetwind. Even as she listened to what had happened she could hardly process it. Smokescreen was the reason she was safe inside the Autobot's base. The very one who had risked his life to rescue her. The first one since she had awoken whom she had called friend. He was dead. It was difficult for her to comprehend.

Understandably the others were not ready to take the murder of their team mate lying down. Bulkhead brought out his arm blasters and growled, "I say we claim a piece of Megatron's miserable metal hide!"

_'He won't get away with this,'_ Bumblebee whirred in angry agreement, bringing out his own weapons, ready to join the fight.

The pair started towards the ground bridge, however, before they could get very far Optimus stretched out a hand to stop them. "No," he stated firmly. "We have already lost another one of our own today. I will not risk more lives. Given what Arcee witnessed, it stands to reason that Megatron now possess might to equal the Star Saber. Which means only _I_ have a chance of recovering the Omega Key."

Ratchet nodded, adding, "The fate of Cybertron rests upon its retrieval."

"Whether Megatron knows it or not..." finished Bulkhead.

Violetwind looked up at them with great worry on her features. She did not quite understand what was going on but it did not sound good.

_Cybertron..._

_What is it?_ she asked the voice.

_Our home planet,_ it replied, actually being useful for once. _Because of our warring it died..._

A deeper despair settled over the femme, not only containing her own sadness but the grief of her head's voice. The feeling was like a physical weight to her chest, closing in on her. War and fighting were such terrible things, hurting so many more than those who were killed...

The Autobots, feeling their own thoughts weigh them down, had their attentions diverted from such as Optimus Prime started to head off and prepare for the inevitable battle with Megatron.

"Optiums," Arcee called the leader back, "There was something else."

He paused to look back at her questioningly.

"Megatron... he... he also said he wanted what was his. What was taken from him..." her gaze drifted back to Violetwind still sitting up against the wall.

The purple femme looked up and felt a cold chill run through her, realising just what the Decepticon warlord wanted; her.

_Slag that 'Con_, grumbled her voice.

A protest of beeps came from Bumblebee, _'He can't have Violetwind! He has no claim to her!'_

"Yeah, we can't let him take another of ours!" growled Bulkhead, looking ready to pound something.

The Prime let out a deep vent as he pondered his options. Finally he addressed the femme in question, "Do you believe you are strong enough to accompany me?"

She looked up at him with wide blue optics. "Y-yes," she stuttered, "b-but y-you're not g-going to hand me over are you?!"

He replied with the deepest conviction, "No. And I give you my word that he will not harm you. I will protect you, Violetwind."

His voice instilled hope in her, like she just knew he would do as he promised. Even though she was still scared she would trust him and whatever he might have planned. "Ok, Optimus," she did her best to put a brave smile on her face, "What do you want me to do?"

...

The dark of night surrounded the glow of the ground bridge. The rolling waves of sand were such a contrast to the stone blocks of the ancient human structure, even in the soft night light.

Stepping through the vortex came Optimus and Violetwind, the latter glancing about with worry. The mech, however, displayed his usual calmness.

Immediately Megatron smiled seeing them both there, standing still some distance away. "Glad to see you again, and looking much better," he addressed the femme first.

A cold glare was all he received in return. Optimus had previously cautioned her against saying anything to the Decepticon, no matter what he said that might possibly provoke her. If he knew of her memory loss and accompanying different personality he would use it to his advantage. So they decided to not give him the chance to discover it.

"Now, Violetwind – my scientist – come with me quietly. You will save Optimus the trouble of fighting to his death if you do. It will merely be a simple trade; you for the relic. And there will be no getting away from me this time. Your pathetic saviour can no longer help you... He was so easy to dispose of."

Anger flashed through her at Megatron's words. Fear may have kept her rooted in place but fury caused her to clench her fists tightly, metal grinding against metal. The silver mech spoke as if she was something that could be bought, nothing more than an object. Then on top of this he was flippant about Smokescreen's death, so casual about having taken the mech's life.

Glaring back at the Decepticon, her attention was broken by a soft sound at her sides. Looking down she saw that her hands had been replaced by two short swords the length of her forearm. _I didn't even know I could do that..._ she thought, staring at them in surprise.

"This is not your fight," Optimus calmly told her, a hand outstretched to stop her from possibly moving into battle.

With a nod she sheathed her blades, returning her hands to her sides.

Turning his attention back to Megatron, he raised his voice, "I will not allow you to take her. The femme has chosen where she stands, and it is not with you."

He let out a spine chilling chuckle in response, and addressed the mech, "So be it. You've just come for the relic then." Raising his hand, he clenched his fist. "I welcome the battle."

The Autobot leader's optics went wide with horror as he noticed Megatron's arm. The hand he currently possessed on his right was not his own. Instead he was using that of a previous Prime, have desecrated a tomb to retrieve the appendage. In shock Optimus uttered, "By the All Spark, Megatron. What have you done?"

"This?" the mech casually raised the hand, flexing the fingers, "I find it affords me certain... advantages. Such as the use of the Forge of Solus Prime." From his back he brought out the glowing sword. "My first creation," he boasted proudly showing it off, "Fashioned from the very blood of Unicron. I call it the Dark Star Saber, Slayer of Primes, if you will." Letting the dark energon sword relax to a more comfortable holding position he looked back at his enemies.

Optimus narrowed his optics at the mech. This was one fight he knew could not afford to lose.

"This shall be your grave, Optimus!" roared the Decepticon, charging at his opponent.

Giving a slight nod to Violetwind, the Autobot leader charged forward too. She knew what she was to do, but could not help watching in awe as the two large mechs began their battle.

The silver one raised his sword before quickly slashing it down, sending out a purple energy wave. When it approached him, Optimus cut the energy wave in two allowing it to safely dissipate around him and keep Violetwind from being hit.

Soon the pair were locked in a clash of swords and the femme took this moment to slip away with the intent on fetching the Omega Key, which Optimus had instructed her to do earlier when they were going over their options back at the base.

The Autobots had explained how the Omega Keys were a vital component in restoring life to Cybertron. Retrieving all four they would be able return to their home planet, reviving the world so it could support life once again and bring back all the scattered Cybertronians from the far reaches of space.

Skirting the battle, she kept an optic on its progression. With each swing of their weapons, the swords connected and a sharp sound rang out, making her want to flinch in response. Fighting on, neither one was able to get a clear hit on the other; neither fighter gaining the advantage.

"At last we take our rightful places, Optimus. As gods! Wielding the power of the cosmos!" Megatron yelled excitedly, power flowing through his very being. Hitting his opponent in the chest, the bot flew backwards from the force, smashing into a wall. Taking the opportunity, the Decepticon leader forced the red and blue mech against the stones, his hand over the other's throat.

It took a lot of willpower from Violetwind to keep going with her goal instead of trying to help him. She knew she would be infective against Megatron but the knowledge of her uselessness in battle did not make things any easier.

However, Optimus was able to hold his own. Glaring back he replied, "I am but a soldier, Megatron. And you are only a prisoner of your own twisted delusions!" Pushing the mech off himself, Prime hit back and their fighting continued.

The battle went on, oblivious to the femme as she neared where the Omega Key stood, right where Megatron had left it, speared into the sand. She was just leaning over to grab it when a particularly hard strike had Optimus on the ground, the metal on his shoulder torn.

His enemy stood over him. "My Dark Star Saber has tasted one spark tonight, yet still thirsts for that of a Prime!"

"Optimus! No!" cried out Violetwind involuntarily, her optics wide with fear for the mech.

About to deliver the killing blow, Megatron found his attack blocked. Optimus had raised his blade just in time to defend himself.

Letting out a sigh of relief, she turned back to grabbing the key but was distracted again, this time by a surprised voice from behind her. "Violet?"

Whirling around she met the optics of the speaker. A surprised smile lit up her face as she saw who it was; relief and joy filling her, along with disbelief. "Smokescreen! You're alive!"

Walking up to her he shook his head and grinned, "I was the last time I checked. Why ever wouldn't I be?"

"Because Arcee said she saw you hit the wall. There was nothing but dust. You were just gone! What else would we th-" She started to explain when Smokescreen's face fell as he looked over her shoulder.

Turning around she immediately saw why he looked the way he did. Optimus was on his knees in front of Megatron, a broken Star Saber in his hand. The pieces of the once magnificent weapon had simply evaporated into smoke. A horrible sinking feeling flooded over the Autobots watching as their leader was towered over by their greatest enemy.

Megatron held his Dark Star Saber to Optimus' back as he spoke, "And so it ends, just as I envisioned. With your head beside my new trophy."

Quickly reaching around the femme, Smokescreen snatched up the relic before the Decepticon could do anything. "Oh you mean this relic?" he called out, holding up the key. "Finder's keepers!"

He looked over at the rookie, surprise in his glowing red optics. Using the moment of distraction, Optimus shoved the sword away from himself and grabbed the wrist holding it in one smooth motion. Megatron tried to wrestle free of his grip but instead Prime struck him in the chest with the hilt of his broken sword, knocking the silver mech back. "Smokescreen, Violetwind, fall back!" he commanded.

The femme started to do so when she noticed her companion was headed into the fight. "What are you doing?" she called out, thinking he was absolutely crazy.

"I have to help him, trust me ok?" the mech called back, continuing into the fray.

Megatron had just delivered a rough punch to the Prime's head, knocking him backward. After rolling, the Autobot ended up back on his pedes just as his opponent slashed his saber sending an energon wave his way. Optimus stared at it but had nowhere to go and nothing to stop it, only able to watch it roll closer, carrying with it his final moment.

But it was not to be. Smokescreen jumped in front of his leader and grabbed his arm so the energy wave passed safely through the both of them.

Optimus glanced thankfully at the rookie before calling into his comm link. "Ratchet! Ground bridge!"

"Noooo!" Megatron yelled in frustration.

The swirling vortex appeared just behind them.

"Missed us!" teased the cocky mech.

Violetwind joined up with the mechs, and they all ran for the ground bridge. Seeing them trying to leave, the Decepticon let out a roar, charging after them. With a quick slash of his sword he sent a purple energy wave their way in a last effort to get them before they disappeared. Leaping into the swirling blue-green vortex the Autobots were saved as it closed after them, the energy wave missing.

Megatron, now left alone in the darkness, started to laugh menacingly to the air. "Run, Optimus, run. Those trinkets from Iacon will not save you or that femme. Not when I now possess the power to tear this world apart!"

...

Back at the Autobot base, Optimus Prime walked through the ground bridge first followed by Violetwind, Smokescreen and the relic bringing up the rear. It felt so good to be back at the base and safe, the purple femme letting out a sigh of relief.

Ratchet was quick to usher Optimus over to the side so he could check the obvious wound on his shoulder. Everyone else though was staring in disbelief at the white and blue mech, who was smiling brightly back at them.

Bulkhead was the first one to stay something, "Smokescreen?"

He grinned in return, waving the relic proudly, "And Omega Key number one."

"But... how? I mean, I saw you..." Arcee muttered, hardly able to believe what her optics were seeing.

"I, uh, decided to borrow the phase shifter," he admitted a little guiltily as he held up his wrist showing off the device.

The medic finished the scan of Optimus' shoulder and let him leave, the Prime returning the the monitors. When he heard Smokescreen he turned to splutter, looking over at the mech with disapproving optics, "Again?"

He gave a slight nod, "Good thing too." The rookie went on to explain what had happened, "The wave from the blast hit me like a wrecking ball. The impact must have activated the shifter. I don't know how long I was unconscious but when I made my way back outside, Optimus and Megatron were deep in an epic throw-down and Violetwind was going for the Omega Key. I waited for the right moment to make my move."

Arcee smirked, admitting, "You're learning."

Raising an optic ridge Violetwind inquired, "And you were standing behind me before you uttered my name in surprise how long then?"

"Ahh," he chuckled nervously, "Long enough..."

With a shake of her head, she let him get away with it this time. Arcee rolled her optics, mostly at how easily the mech was caught out while Bulkhead and Bumblebee chuckled.

Ignoring their responses, Smokescreen perked up, asking eagerly, "So can I keep the phase shifter? It is really working out for me."

"Fine, fine," grumbled Ratchet, waving a hand at him dismissively.

"Yes! Signature weapon!" cheered the mech. Turning around, his gaze fell on the broken Star Saber lying where Optimus had left it after returning. He became quiet.

Everyone looked over at it with disappointment. The Autobots had lost their strongest weapon and best advantage to helping end the war.

"You got yours. Optimus lost his," lamented Bulkhead.

Arcee added, "The balance of power has shifted again."

"While he may have only wielded the power of the ancients for a short time, Optimus does not require it to be the mightiest of warriors," declared Ratchet as they all looked over at their leader, who was working at the computer.

It was true. Not only physically strong, he possessed the greatest courage and will to fight for the freedom of all sentient beings. Violetwind felt privileged to be there with him as her leader. Glancing over at Smokescreen, she was glad he was still alive too. To lose a friend in only a few days since she remembered waking up would be too much for her to take.

Thinking on this, she could feel a strange mixture of sadness and guilt but it was not her own feelings. These came from the voice that liked to interrupt her thoughts. Walking away from the others she leant against the wall looking at her pedes.

She tried to question the voice, _What's wrong?_

Her thoughts were quiet before it eventually 'spoke' up, _There are things best not yet known..._

* * *

Hope you liked it!  
Also, side note, if you haven't seen Transformers: Rescue Bots you need to. It's actually quite brilliantly written and is full of humorous one liners and so many references. Plus some great voice actors like Steve Blum (aka Starscream) voicing Heatwave. So check it out already!


	8. Chapter 8

Mostly friendship building in this one, I guess you could say sort of a filler chapter. But I donno... Whatever though, it's a fun sort of chapter, so enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 8

The next morning the base was remarkable quiet, if a little boring for the purple femme. Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee were picking up their partners so they could spend the Saturday with them. While Smokescreen was off somewhere, though, she did not really know where he had gone. This left her alone in the base with Optimus and Ratchet, both of whom seemed to be busy.

After wandering around the halls for a little while she considered asking to go outside but was unsure if she actually wished to venture from the safety of the base. There was nothing of interest in the room the bots had set up for her, leaving her with the only other option of using humans TV and watching something but she felt that she had already done enough of that recently.

Nevertheless she walked back into the main hub. Optimus and Ratchet had been talking in hushed tones but immediately became quiet upon noticing her. Such an action made her feel rather uncomfortable like she had stumbled upon something she should not have.

"Um, I-I hope I'm not interrupting anything..." she said nervously.

"No, Violetwind, it is alright," Optimus told her. "Is there anything you desired?"

"Um, no. I was just looking for something to do..."

The pair shared a glance before he replied, "Ratchet informs me that physically you are ready for active duty." He paused to see how she would take the news.

At first she smiled, thrilled to be cleared for a clean bill of health but as she realised what active duty meant her smile fell, fear replacing the joy in her optics. "A-active duty?" she repeated. "Optimus, sir, I-I think you should know that I can't fight. I don't know how. I can barely control my weapons. I-I couldn't hope to take anything on!"

"It is alright, Violetwind, I am aware of this," he spoke calmly, the hint of a smile on his face, "Do not worry yourself over it. You will not be joining any battles until you are ready. Until then, the other Autobots will be helping you regain your fighting skills."

The femme let loose a sigh of relief at the mech's word. Optimus really had a way of putting someone at ease. Feeling more comfortable she asked, "So, um, when do I start then?"

A small grin played on the leader's face. "You will begin when the others return." With a nod of dismissal he turned back to Ratchet.

Seeing that the conversation was over, Violetwind left them to talk in peace. Going over to wait near the base's entrance she hoped that learning to fight would mean she would not have to feel so useless. She would actually be able do something.

Before long the three Autobots and their human partners arrived. Each greeted Violetwind warmly, which she returned in kind. They began chatting a little before Miko asked if there was any missions going on that day, wishing to see some Decepticons made into scrapheaps.

Optimus Prime wandered over being his usual stoic self. After a nod in greeting to them he spoke, "I do have a mission for you."

"Alright!" cheered the teenage girl.

Not even phased by the interruption he continued, "It has to do with our latest Autobot. First of all, she still requires a vehicular mode from this planet. Miko, Bulkhead, I would like you to aid her with this. Take the day getting used to driving, Violetwind. Tomorrow Jack shall take you out to learn Earth's basic road rules with Arcee accompanying you. I expect that it will not go as it did the last time." He gave the boy a warning look, which Jack responded to with a sheepish look of his own.

"Each of you will also be training Violetwind in the use of her weapons and combat skills. These may be necessary not only if Megaton should decide to come after you again but also in our quest for the remaining Iacon relics. Now you have a day ahead of you, do not go wasting it, Autobots."

"And do not go straining yourself. I don't want to need to be patching you up again so soon," Ratchet warned the femme.

"I won't," she promised.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's get you a v-mode!" yelled Miko, throwing up her arms in enthusiasm.

"I'll be ground bridging you out so you don't have to go walking about as you are and be seen," informed the medic.

Bulkhead transformed down to his SUV form, opening the door for Miko to hop in, which the girl promptly did. Honking his horn the mech called out, "Let's get out there!"

Violetwind smiled at their enthusiasm. "Ok, no time like the present, I guess."

Stepping through the ground bridge the trio found themselves atop a plateau overlooking a highway. After letting Miko climb out, the large green mech transformed back into his robot mode.

"Come on, let's get you a sweet v-mode!"

Going over to the edge the two Autobots lay on their fronts where they would not get much notice but could clearly see the road and all the cars driving along it.

"So, um, you may have to run me through how this works..." the femme told her companions.

"That crash musta really done a number on your memory, Vi. You don't even remember how to transform?" Miko observed.

Shaking her head she admitted, "I've had to relearn everything since I awoke."

"You'll be back to your old fighting self in no time," encouraged Bulkhead.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she replied with a grateful smile, though not fully convinced. "So about this scanning and transforming?"

Bulkhead looked out over the highway. "It's actually not that hard. I mean even me, bolts for brains can do it." He chuckled lightly, before continuing, "When you find the vehicle you want its just a matter of activating your optics for a scan."

"Mhmmm..." she nodded but still didn't really get it.

He grinned, "Just try it out when you find a car you like."

"You should be find something awesome. Think you could do a monster truck?" the human girl look up at the femme excited about her suggestion.

Keeping her optics on the passing vehicles, Violetwind shook her head. "I don't think I'm big enough for that."

"A small monster truck?"

She shot the girl an unamused look before going back to watching the cars.

"Fine. Just don't pick something super lame like that old van," grumbled Miko pointed at the vehicle as it drove by, slumping against her green companion's arm.

The femme giggled, "I don't think that's really my style either." Seeing a small car she pointed at it. "How about that one?" It was a Volkswagen New Beetle, a small car with a domed appearance.

Miko looked over at it and wrinkled her nose. "You're kidding right? Vi! You want something that looks better than a puny bug!"

"It doesn't look that bad," she muttered in disappointment.

With a sigh and shake of her head, the girl replied,"Vi, come on, you want something with some power if you're not going to go for size. And a bug ain't got that!"

"Miko, give her a break," Bulkhead lightly scolded his partner. "Don't worry, you'll get used to her, Violet."

Violetwind shot a smile back at the mech. "I hope so. Either that or go insane I think," she teased.

"Hey!" the girl went over and gave Violetwind's arm a kick.

"Ow, hey! What was that for?" the femme flinched despite it not truly hurting much at all.

"That's for saying that I'll make you go insane," the human replied, folding her arms and looking up at her.

"Well it's true," she grinned. This earned her a more annoyed look before kicks started coming her way again. "Hey, stop it!" the femme chuckled, holding her arms up to shield herself from the onslaught.

Beside them Bulkhead chuckled. "Miko..." he chided but did nothing to stop her.

"Bulkhead!" peaking out from behind her arms, Violetwind whined, "Aren't you going to help me out?"

"No, he's not! You're going to have to tough it out and take your punishment!" Miko replied for him.

With a cheeky grin, the purple bot decided that she would have to defend herself by going on the offensive. "Fine, I'll have to take care of myself then!"

Reaching out a finger she poked it into the girl's side, who let out a squeal and jumped away in response. Narrowing her eyes, her cheeks flushed red. Miko glared up at the femme, who was still holding a cheeky grin. They held each other's gaze for a few moments, daring for the other to make the first move.

So Violetwind did.

Reaching out a finger she started to tickle the human girl.

"No! Stop it!" Miko cried out between giggles. Breaking away from the femme, she ran behind Bulkhead.

"Look who's not taking it now," the purple femme giggled .

She received a glare in response. "You were using unfair tactics!"

"It's not like you to run from a fight, Miko," chuckled Bulkhead.

"Who's side are you on anyway!" she snapped earning another chorus of laughter from the bots.

While they were laughing, Violetwind caught sight of a car in the corner of her optic. Quickly she turned her full attention on it as it drove their way. "That one! It's perfect!" she pointed towards the car.

The others looked over, Miko nodding in approval. "Looks good to me."

For a moment the femme forgot about needing to scan it, too excited at having found something she liked, until Miko bluntly pointed it out. "Well ya gonna do something!?"

"Oh yeah, scanning, right..." she muttered sheepishly. Focusing her gaze on the car she wanted for her vehicle mode she tried to think about scanning it but it did not appear to be working. Violetwind started to panic. She could not let it get away without acquiring it as her alternate mode and if she did not scan it now, it might just do that.

_Calm down. Just be calm and focus your optics on it,_ the voice in her head commanded her.

Slowly she took a deep breath of air into her intakes to calm herself. Taking a good look at the car this time it worked. The scanning beams shot from her optics over the car.

"Yes! I did it! Yes!" she cheered, so excited she jumped up onto her pedes.

"Oh yeah! Now let's see it on you!" shouted Miko.

The purple femme became quiet.

"C'mon, you're not scared are you?"

"Mmmm, well... maybe just a little..."

Bulkhead smiled warmly, "It's gonna be fine," he assured her, "This may be the first time remembering it but you've done this before so don't worry so much about it. First move away from the edge though. We don't need anyone to see you."

The trio moved out of sight of the humans, and down behind the plateau where Violetwind had plenty of room to transform. Standing there she shifted on her pedes nervously, not sure what to do, knowing that this should come as naturally as walking to her.

The voice came to her rescue again. _Focus on the specifications of the vehicle you just scanned. _

Closing her optics and taking another load of air into her intakes she readied herself. Bringing up the scan of the car in her mind she let it be her whole focus.

_Now let thoughts of it extend out to your whole body,_ coached her voice.

Following its instructions, her optics still closed, she thought about the scan of the car reaching out to the rest of her body. As it went out she could feel some tingling but did her best to ignore it, instead focusing harder on her task.

Suddenly it was like she short circuited, a shock going through her entire body. Crying out in pain, she collapsed, grunting as she hit the ground.

"Vi!" called out an alarmed Miko as Bulkhead rushed over to help her up again.

"I'm- I'm fine guys," the femme tried to reassure them, leaning against the green mech for support.

"We should get you back to Ratchet so he can check you over. That's not normal," he said looking over her with worry.

"Wait!" she protested before he could call back to base. "I'm fine. Please just give me a minute to recover and let me try again."

The mech was not convinced.

"Please, Bulkhead..."

"It couldn't do any more harm, could it, Bulk?" Miko added her plea, not wishing to return to base without having some fun.

He groaned but nodded. "But only once and the doc really needs to know what happened. You'd better tell him when we get back. I'll carry you off there myself if you don't."

Violetwind nodded eagerly. "I will, I will," she promised. Standing upright she took a few steps away before trying again. Once more she closed her optics and focused on the car scan. This time there was less tingling in her body. Instead the familiar noise of metal clanging sounded in the air.

Before Bulkhead and Miko sat a dark purple Holden Commodore SS.

"How do you like me now?" she asked cheerily.

"Woo! C'mon give it a spin! Show us what you've got!"

Revving her engine, the femme pushed the accelerator down, slowly at first; turning so as not to hit her companions but gaining speed when there was nothing in her way.

"Woohoo!" she yelled racing along the dirt. "This is awesome!"

Making a sharp turn she skid around a few times, which scared her a little but she soon came to a stop without having hit anything so she allowed herself to relax. Turning, she headed back to the others, living up the speed as she did. This time she came to a far more controlled stop in front of her companions.

"Alright, Vi! Slick v-mode!" Miko hollered.

"Nice speed, give Bee and Smoke a bit of competition there," the green mech grinned.

Returning to her robot mode she smiled excitedly at them both. "That was pretty incredible!"

The femme glanced at her back as best she could, the simple wings on her back having become her car doors. Her front had changed a little as well, her chest taking on the new style of her headlights.

"Let's go tear up some ground and see just how good you are with your new wheels!" the girl shouted out a challenge, "Bet you couldn't beat me and Bulk, over to those rocks!"

The mech promptly transformed down into his SUV, Miko climbing inside.

"You're on," she accepted, transforming down herself.

Both vehicles revved their engines as Miko led the count down. "Three... Two... One... Go!"

They sprang forward with a burst of acceleration across the dusty plain.

Violetwind's lighter frame accompanied by V8 engine helped her to fly across the ground but she was not able to take the bumps as well as Bulkhead and his vehicle form much more suited to off road.

"C'mon Bulk! You can beat her!" Miko called out encouragement from his cab, cheering him on as they neared the rock that marked their finish line.

Both vehicles did their best to put on an extra burst of speed. Engines roared, but it was Violetwind who started to pull ahead. "Woohoo!" she yelled as she passed the rock first. Sliding to a stop she transformed back into robot mode, Bulkhead coming to a stop beside her.

"I could hardly keep up there," he admitted, with a tiny bit of awe.

Miko popped her head out the window, not taking the loss as easily as her partner. "I wanna rematch!"

With a light chuckled the femme responded, "I thought I was supposed to spend the day actually practising my driving and stuff. Not racing."

"Racing is driving!" the girl snapped.

Violetwind rolled her optics. "I'm pretty sure when Optimus sent us out here he didn't have racing on his mind."

"Vi's right. We need to be taking this more seriously," the mech agreed.

Slouching back on the seat, Miko poured. "Hmph, but that's not as fun..."

Nevertheless the trio spent the rest of the day practising her general driving so she would not have trouble when she went on the roads the next day. They did manage to sneak in a few more races though, much to the delight of Miko.

Both Autobots, dusty and tired after a long day, drove back into base. Bulkhead honked his horn as they entered, gathering everyone's attention. All eyes and optics turned their way and none missed the dust covered purple Commodore that drove in after him.

"Not too bad, for a car," muttered Arcee with a playful smirk.

Meanwhile Bumblebee beeped in his encouragement at her choice. _'Nice pick. I think it suits you.'_

Violetwind transformed out of her vehicle mode, smiling in thanks.

"Hey, not too bad at all," commented Smokescreen, "Smooth lines..." Realising how his comment could be taken he stuttered out an apology. "Um, I mean for the car, that you, um, chose..." His optics stared at the ground sheepishly.

The femme's face grew heated as she looked away nervously. "Um, yeah..."

The teenaged girl made a show of clearing her throat. "When you guys are done..."

This only made the pair feel more awkward, Bumblebee whirling in amusement.

"Um, well I'm just going to go now..." murmured the purple femme, quickly excusing herself and heading down a hallway.

As she left she heard Arcee chuckle in amusement, "Wow that was smooth, Smokescreen."

Violetwind just groaned, her door wings slumping in embarrassment. With a deep intake of air she tried to forget the awkward moment that had just passed and focused on finding Ratchet. Bulkhead had told her that she really should have the medic take a look at her after her mishap trying to transform the first time. She did not wish to go and see the medic, feeling like she had been burden enough but he had threaten to haul her to the medical bay if she refused. Though she had doubts about him actually carrying it out she did not want to do anything to gain his disapproval. After their day together she considered Bulkhead and Miko to be her friends. It had been more like a hang out day than training.

Peaking around the corner of the medical bay, she spotted the mech in his usual place. "Oh, um, Ratchet..." she began.

The medic turned around at the sound of his name. "Violetwind, is there something wrong?"

"Erm, well, sort of... Maybe... I don't really know..." she shuffled nervously on her pedes.

He raised an eyebrow ridge waiting for her to explain and she did. Quickly she spilled out what had come over her during her first transformation attempt, with the strange tingling and the jolt of pain accompanied by her collapse.

When she was done the medic looked thoughtful. "I'll do a scan to make sure but I suspect it's nothing serious. You had no trouble transforming afterwards?"

She shook her head. "No, it was fairly simple after that. It became more natural after the first time."

Having the femme lay down on the berth he attached a cable to her helm to check her circuits. Completing the scan Ratchet looked over his data. "As I suspected, just your circuits adjusting. After all the physical trauma you've gone through I'm not surprised. Just get some rest for now."

Nodding she silently left, returning to her room.

Now alone again, the medic looked back at his screens. "Just what is going on that head of yours, Violetwind..." he muttered quietly to himself, staring at the unexplainable anomaly in her scan.

* * *

Oh Primus that ending! I wrote it out and was so excited and just wanted to giggle evilly cause I knew that I was again giving the tiniest nibble on more of the voice. (It was also late when I wrote it out so I could have been a little tired and giddy XD)

The Volkswagon beetle mentioned in his chapter is my little homage to Herbie, that little car with a big personality as well as dear little original Bumblebee! And Violet's vehicle mode, the Holden commodore, is (other than looking through google for pictures of purple cars) my little bit of respect to the family car we had growing up, a dark green Holden commodore that served us for many many years. And shhh I know it's probs a bit of a foreign car for America, don't ruin my dreams. :P  
Speaking of her alt-mode, there's a link to it in my profile.


	9. Chapter 9

Another chapter of light story progression but stuff that I didn't really want to skip over with a 'this and this happened.' But we do get a few important tidbits in there too :P

* * *

Chapter 9

The early morning sun lit up the empty streets as two Autobots drove through the suburb. It was quiet, not many people having yet gotten out of bed. The female Autobots turned into Jack's driveway and although they arrived a little later than the time they had arranged to be there, the boy was still not ready. Parking in his driveway they waited for him to emerge.

Arcee with her human hologram called out, "Come on, Jack! We haven't got all day!"

"Hmmm, well actually we do..." mused Violetwind, since they had been given the day to learn the road rules.

"You do want him to come out before noon right?" quipped the two wheeler.

"Yeah... I suppose we do," she replied with a slight giggle.

The door of the house opened but instead of the human boy they were waiting for, out strode Jack's mother, June Darby, a mug of coffee in her hands.

"Well hello. Jack told me there was a new Autobot at the base, I guess that you must be her," the woman nodded towards the purple vehicle.

Arcee was quick to jump in and introduce them," June, this is Violetwind. Violetwind, June Darby, Jack's mum."

"Hello, Ms. Darby," she greeted politely.

"No need to be so formal, you can call me June, Violetwind," the woman smiled at her before taking a sip of her coffee. "So what did you girls have planned for today?"

"Then, you may call me Violet," the purple car responded cheerfully, "And Jack's going to take me driving and teach me the laws of your roads so that I can better blend in."

June glanced over at Arcee, "So how come you're coming along for the ride?"

"Protection," the blue femme replied. "Violet here isn't that capable in a fight yet."

"Will, Jack be safe?" the mother asked, always concerned about the safety of her son.

Arcee quickly put her fears to rest. "Of course, June. We aren't likely to see any trouble today as we're just staying around town."

"That's good." She relaxed, "You know how I worry."

The door opened for a second time this time Jack stepping through. "I still don't get why we had to start so early on a Sunday," he grumbled approaching the robots in disguise.

"It's not _that_ early," rebutted Arcee.

"But it's a Sunday. They were made for sleeping in late," he continued to gripe.

Violetwind giggled opening her door for the teen. "Guess you're not a morning person then?"

Climbing into the seat he shook his head. "Not really." Looking back at his mother he waved, "Bye, Mum."

"Bye, Jack. Take good care of my son." June waved back.

"No worries, Ms- ah, June," the purple femme corrected herself to call the nurse by her first name.

Reversing out of the driveway the trio headed off, ready for the lesson. After driving a few blocks Jack looked more awake and started giving her instructions. "See those signs with the numbers? Those are the speed limits. You can't go over them otherwise the police will want to come after you. Speeding is a sure way to get noticed."

"Speed limits. Don't go over. Got it," Violetwind acknowledged, her internal lights flashing a little brighter as she talked. "What else?"

He pointed out the next thing. "See those coloured lights up there? Those are traffic lights. Green is for go." Their light was green so she eased herself through the intersection. The next light coming up ahead of them was orange. "So what does that one mean?"

"Orange is like a warning. It means its about to go red and you have to stop on red." He explained.

The light changed colour and she came to a stop before the line, watching as a single car went across the intersection. "How's that?"

"Good." Jack went on to talk about stop signs and other kinds of signs as they drove along. He also explained to her about who had right of way at intersections when people were turning.

By noon, they had covered just about everything one ever needed know about driving. So with a growling human stomach to feed they stopped by the local takeaway shop. The place was deserted so leaning up against the wall, Jack ate his lunch near the disguised Autobots.

"So food is like your energon? And it has many different forms?" questioned Violetwind curiously.

The boy nodded, popping another chip in his mouth. "We have to eat. Humans can't go for too long without food and not even a few days without water."

"So it's like a constant upkeep of your bodies?"

Nodding again he scrunched up his rubbish, tossing it into a bin. "Was there anything else we we're doing today?" he asked dusting off his hands on his pants.

"I think we covered most of it. Violet should be able to get around fine without drawing attention to herself," Arcee replied.

"Heh, as long as a car driving itself isn't too odd," she chuckled.

Jack grinned, "Well it isn't quiet as noticeable as a motorcycle without a rider."

The two wheeled snapped, "Hey, that's what Sadie's for."

The purple femme chuckled again. "How about we head back to base then. I'm still yours for the day Arcee, shall we get started on teaching me to fight?"

"Sure."

Hopping back into the car, Jack leaned back on the seat. "You know it's kinda nice being driven around."

"Gee, glad you like being chauffeured around," Violet teased, "Would you like any bubbly, Sir?"

Jack chuckled at her imitation of a good butler. "Have you been watching movies?"

"Just a few. I have had a bit more time on my hands than the others. But I guess, I'll be a little busier now with training," disappointment clear in her voice.

"We're in a war. We don't have a lot of time for pleasures," Arcee grunted. "And training will be necessary without your knowledge of how to fight."

"Oh yes, um, I... well, I didn't mean that my training was a bad thing..." the purple vehicle replied shamefully.

They did not converse much more on the way back to the base, making it a little quiet. The two femmes headed into the room the Autobots used for a sort of gym; Jack stayed the main part of the base with the other kids. On the wall between the room and the hall was a patch job, trying to conceal what had been a hole. Violetwind was curious about it, having passed by and noticed it numerous time but never had the chance to ask about why it was like that before.

So when they were in the room preparing to start she casually glanced over at it, "So what's with the patch job on that wall over there?"

Arcee looked up, rolling her optics, a slight smile on her face. "That was from when Ratchet threw Bulk through the wall."

"He did what?!" She tried to process the thought of their medic tossing the large mech and it could hardly compute, let alone him actually going though the wall, which was made out of solid concrete.

The blue femme nodded. "He was souped-up on Synth-En at the time, giving him super strength and speed. It also made him go a bit crazy as well."

"Wow... That's some stuff then..."

"Yep, but let's get to your training," Arcee waved the femme over to stand with her in the centre of the room.

Going over, she looked down at the slightly smaller femme. "This synth-en stuff, what is it then?"

"Synthetic energon. We had hoped it was going to be a substitute for energon but, as we saw with Ratchet, it was unstable. Ratchet's really our expert on it not me. Why are you so curious anyway?"

Violetwind shrugged her shoulders, "I donno, it just sounded interesting."

"Probably your old scientific curiosity come through," the two wheeler suggested.

"Yeah, perhaps."

"Now, enough with the chatter and try to focus. Let's see your weapons," the femme instructed.

Setting her thoughts on the task at hand, she brought out her blasters. She had not used them since the day of her escape and she felt a little strange having them out. "Now what?"

"Try aiming for the target on the wall over there."

Lifting her arms she pointed them in the direction of the circle on the wall. Firing a few shots she did her best to hit the target. Not one even came within half a metre it.

"Hmm, your aim is rather off. Though all that should take is some practice. Moving targets are much harder but we'll just see if we can get you aiming straight for now. Just try to think of your shots as extensions of your hands, like you're pointing right at the object you want to hit rather than just setting them in the general direction and hoping you'll hit."

She hid a guilty grin. Pointing in the general direction and hoping she had hit was exactly how she had been approaching it. Seems she really had needed some coaching, along with a whole lot of practice.

So that's exactly what they did. The pair spent the afternoon working on Violetwind's technique, slowly improving her aim so she was shooting closer to the target as well as being more consistent with where her shots went, instead of being all over the place.

Eventually they decided to call it a day. Violetwind had grown tired, her arms becoming worn out from all the shooting and heat it had produced. She was very ready to get some recharge.

Heading back to her room where she could get some rest she ran into Optimus Prime, literally.

"Oh, I- I- I'm s- so sorry, Optimus, Sir," she stuttered stumbling backwards, "I- I didn't see you there. I wasn't paying attention." She stared at the floor, not willing to look up at him in embarrassment, door wings lowered.

His voice was calm and comforting as he replied, "Do not trouble yourself, Violetwind. There was no harm done. You seemed preoccupied. What was on your mind?"

Taking a shaky intake of air she looked up into his caring blue optics. "N-not much really... I was mostly thinking about getting some recharge. It was a long day. I have so much I need to remember and so much to improve upon." Her gaze drifted back to the ground.

"I see... I am sure you will do well. Despite you memory loss, I believe you are still very intelligent and we are lucky to have you here. Do not let thoughts that say otherwise bring you down."

His words brought her comfort, helping her to feel much more at ease and inspiring hope within her. "Thank you, Optimus," she smiled up at the leader, door wings perking with her mood.

"You are most welcome. Go rest up. Tomorrow you will likely have another long day with Bumblebee as your teacher," he replied, the hint of a smile on his face.

With a nod she continued off to her room for some recharge with a smile and feeling more enthusiastic about the future.

...

The next morning she was standing with Bumblebee in the same room as the previous day; the training room. Standing opposite the yellow mech, she shifted on her pedes a little nervously. "So we're going to battle each other?"

He nodded, _'Yeah, but it's not a real fight. We're not actually trying to hurt each other.' _

"Ok... Um what should I do then? Am I supposed to use my swords?" She glanced down at her arms in uncertainty.

_'No,'_ he whirred, shaking his head, _'For now we'll start with the basics without your weapons. To start off stand with your pedes apart, left ped forward and right ped behind. Keep your hands up and elbows in.'_

Bumblebee demonstrated to her how to stand. Copying his stance as best she could, the femme held her hands up near her face.

_'Elbows in,'_ he repeated, looking at them until she brought them in closer to her body. _'Good, now bend your knees. You'll want to keep your knees slightly bent at all times. It's important for giving your punches more power.'_

"Ok," she nodded her understanding. Bending her knees a little and her hands up ready for a fight she was already feeling a little more confident about her lesson.

_'So now we'll go on to the punching part. With your left hand you'll be jabbing at your opponent like so.'_ He demonstrated the move, using his left fist to punch the air.

Repeating his movements, Violetwind jabbed at her air with her own fist.

_'Now try a few in quick succession.'_

With a glance at him she, turned her optics back to her imaginary opponent. With a few quick strikes she aimed for where she thought its head might be in front of her. "How was that?"

The mech chirped, _'Not bad. Ok now we'll use your other fist. This one will have more power behind it. You see because its your far side you can step forward and use that momentum as you twist your body to put more force behind the hit.'_

Slowly he demonstrated this for her so that she might see just how he moved. _'Alright now try it with me.'_

Violetwind mimicked his slow movements learning how her servos were to respond. He had her do this a few times to get used to it before she was to actually try a proper punch to the air.

After a while she became more used to the motions and he decided they could try to do a light sparring session.

_'Obviously all your enemies are not going to stay still and they certainly won't let you do all the attacking. They're going to be doing their best to take you down too. So to get you used to that your going to fight me. I'm going to go easy on you but don't expect it to be too simple.'_

She nodded taking up a fighting stance in front of him. "Ok, I'm ready... I think..."

With a trill of acknowledgement, Bumblebee declared the fight to begin.

At first they just circled one another sizing each other up, waiting to see who would back the first move. Half a minute went by like this before Violetwind was the first to attempt a strike. Jabbing her left fist forward she aimed for his head. Bumblebee easily dodged the sloppy hit though, throwing his own left fist forward to hit her helm, before the femme had even returned her fist to its starting position.

She was slightly dazed by the attack but quickly recovered. "Thought you were going easy on me?"

_'This is going easy on you. Just, giving you some real life lessons too,' _she could hear the tease in his beeps.

With a small grin she turned her attention back to their battle.

_Fake a jab then punch him,_ instructed her voice.

Circling around a little more she thought on the advice. Her voice sounded far more knowledgeable than her right then so decided to give it a try. Faking a left jab, the mech dodged but she knew he would do that so sent a hard punch at where his helm was going with her right. There as a sharp clang of metal hitting metal as she delivered the blow. Jumping away her optics went wide as Bumblebee stumbled from the attack.

"Oh my gosh, Bumblebee are you alright?!" she asked worriedly.

Recovering he beeped, _'Yeah. Sure wasn't expecting that though. Where did you get that from?'_ Briefly shaking his helm he returned to his fighting stance.

"Um, I guess you could say it 'came to me,'" she muttered in repy, taking a fighting stance once again.

They continued the spar, Violetwind's voice often coaching her on useful tactics. Some of these she pulled off successfully, others did not fair so well with her inexperience. By the end of it though she had learnt so much. Bumblebee had even been impressed a few times as well.

_'Perhaps your memories of fighting are returning more easily than some of the others,'_ the yellow mech commented as they walked down the hallway.

"Maybe, I'm not really sure..."

_'Just trust your instincts. They should serve you well,'_ he beeped encouragement.

"Trust my voice, really. She... It...?" she wasn't sure how to describe the voice in her head. "Anyway, that voice was really my guiding force. It just knew exactly what to do when I didn't," she confessed.

Her companion let out a whir. _'Well it could be part of your old self. It certainly seems to be trying to help you. Best thing to do might just be to listen.'_

The purple femme smiled. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks"

Trilling happily he replied, _'You're welcome there, Violet. We'll have to do some more sparring again. I expect you and that voice to get a lot better. Maybe even beat me if you get lucky!'_

She chuckled, "Might need heaps more practice before that happens."

Lifting his hand in a wave he beeped goodbye as they parted ways. Reciprocating in kind she waved, calling out her own goodbye as he disappeared around a corner.

Something the mech said stuck with her. 'You and that voice.' Like they were two distinct things. It made her wonder just how separate they were.

"If you are me why can't you just move and stuff? Why did you have to actually tell me what to do instead of just react...?" But the halls and her head were just as quiet as before she spoke, leaving her questions unanswered...

* * *

And so we have another chapter for this week with some lovely little stuff at the end there. ;)  
Had to actually look up stuff for the fight so I knew a little bit and how to instruct her. So thank you wikihow XD  
Also Bee, you've proven to have quite the incite there. We shall have to see how this pans out...^^


	10. Chapter 10

And we're up to chapter 10! And we get to see my favourite Decepticon too!  
It's a bit of a longer one, I thought about splitting off the latter scene into a new chapter, or being really mean and leaving the last scene in a cliffhanger by stopping it halfway but I couldn't do it. So you all get to read more this time!

Also, I have finished writing the story and next chapter will mean we're halfway through! Exciting stuff! I'll still be releasing one chapter a week, mostly because although I've finished writing there's still some editing to be done.

* * *

Chapter 10

A week went by and Violetwind kept up her training with every day that passed. Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Smokescreen had worked with her in both close physical combat and the use of her blasters. Along with the training, she had been working with the voice during the sparring. Though she still was unsure about the voice itself, it was in her best interest to listen to it, something that was becoming more natural to do during the fights.

At that moment Violetwind was alone in the training room. She had not had much of a chance to train with her swords. Those who had been training her did not have anything quite like them. Arcee was the closest, having blades down her arms but they used a rather different way to fight so she was not able to help as much as the femme would have liked. She knew Optimus and Ratchet both had swords but both always seemed so busy with something and she did not wish to intrude upon their work.

Drawing out her blades she looked down at were her hands once were. Carefully she tested their weight, seeing how they felt as she moved them through the air. Getting used to this she took up her usual fighting stance. Imaging an opponent in front of her she made a few experimental slashes at its head. It was certainly different to throwing punches, something she realised and tried to adjust for the next swing she took at it.

After a few minutes she paused, lowering her arms. She opened her mouth to mutter about her voice not being helpful with learning to use her swords when someone else spoke instead.

A deep voice came from the doorway. "You are not using those to their full potential."

Startled she whirled around pointing her blades in the direction of the intruder. Seeing who it was her optics widened and she quickly lowered her arms. "O-Optimus... Y-you gave me a fright..."

"I apologise for doing so. I was merely passing by and saw you. I paused to watch for a moment," the leader spoke humbly.

A few seconds of silence passed before Optimus spoke again. "Perhaps you would like some assistance?"

The purple femme's optics widened with surprise at the offer. "Um, but I, I wouldn't want to keep you from anything important..."

"While there are things that must be done, helping out other Autobots is important as well."

Violetwind smiled, her spark warming at his words. "I will gladly accept some assistance then."

Walking into the room he stood opposite her. Suddenly she found herself hoping that his assistance did not actually involve sparring. He was so big! She felt like she would not stand a chance against him, even in a mock battle. Then when out came his own swords she had to withhold a squeak, they were about the size of her whole arm. Her own seems so small and useless in comparison.

As if he could read her mind Optimus spoke softly, "It is not the size of one's weapon but the size of the wielder's spark that matters, along with the way they employ that weapon."

Slowly she nodded, but still did not look convinced.

A tiny smile played briefly on his face before he went on to explain about the weapons. "Now blades are not like fists, as I am sure you have realised. They are able to deal more damage from a weaker hit than fists. Not only are they good weapons they are also useful for defence in protecting against hits from your enemy by using them to block your opponents attack. Making use of them would be preferable over your arm."

Nodding her understanding, she smiled, "I wouldn't have thought to use it block."

"Now, shall we test out what you know?" Optimus took a battle stance, dropping his face mask into place.

Her face fell. "You, erm, you mean right now?"

The Prime nodded, "Indeed."

Fearfully she took her own fighting stance, not ready for this. Not only was he so much taller than her but he was also her leader. How was she supposed to attack him? What if she did and he got hurt?

Not willing to make the first move she kept her distance as they slowly circled one another. Knowing that she was unwilling, Optimus made the first attack. Swinging his sword he aimed for the side of her head, moving much slower than he normally would have. Seeing the attack, she dodged.

_Side roll_, commanded her voice and so using the momentum from the dodge she fell into a roll and jumped up halfway around Optimus' other side.

_Now slice_, instructed the voice.

Without even hesitating she leaped forward, blade extended to nick the larger bot's side.

It all happened rather quickly, something the Prime had not been expecting. She was far more well versed than she gave herself credit for. Turning to face her he held his blades up in a defensive manner in case she struck again. He would have to be more careful next time.

Violetwind was pleased and yet not pleased by her hit on her opponent. Pleased that she had been able to get a hit on the much larger bot but did not like that she had attacked _the_ Optimus Prime.

She did not have time to dwell on it though as he attacked again, this one going for her stomach plates. This time she did not get out of the way quick enough, the blade catching the edge of her waist. She grunted in slight pain but she had been through much worse.

Optimus also took the moment to bring his other sword down towards her head. Not in the position to dodge effectively her voice prompted the next move.

_Blade up_.

Quickly she lifted the arm on that side up. The clang of the blades striking, echoed the room as she blocked his attack.

"You are a fast learner."

The femme grinned slightly. "I like to think I had some good trainers."

Throwing up her arm that had been blocking his sword she pushed it away and jumped back.

Briefly glancing down, her thoughts wandered into a few things she had wondering about herself, about her past. "Optimus..." she spoke softly, "What was I like before?"

The pair circled one another. "You were... different," he told her. He saw her face fall, the mech realising just how different she was now compared to then. He went on, "More outspoken, sterner, stubborn. Very bold."

"I guess I'm not much like that now..."

Smiling behind his mask, the mech comforted her, "Do not dwell on such, Violetwind. You are who you are and we all shall appreciate you for it. For now focus on the task at hand."

Nodding she paced just outside of the mech's range. She silently questioned how she was to effectively attack him anyway, his reach being so much longer than her own.

Her voice spoke up to help out. _You'll need to dart in quickly before he has the chance to react. Just wait for the right moment. _

A few moments went by as she danced outside his radius. Optimus quickly thrust his blade forward, weight leaning heavily on his front ped.

_Now. _

Twisting out of the way she swung one blade at the back of his knee joint, while with the other she landed a small slice to the Prime's waist plates. The mech grunted but quickly brought his blade around to strike her helm with the flat side of the weapon.

Dazed from the surprising retaliation, she stumbled back a few steps. Shaking her head to try and clear it but it did not clear fast enough. Taking advantage of her dazed state, Optimus has closed in on her, pointing his blade at her chest in front of her spark chamber, the tip a few centimetres away.

Regaining her head, Violetwind stared down at the sword. "I think I just lost... badly..."

Letting the blade drop, and transforming his weapons back into hands, the mech removed his mouth plate. "You are quite skilled for having started a week ago. Is it because memories are returning?" he asked hopefully.

Retracting her swords, she shook her head. "My memories are still missing. I have to credit my abilities to my inner voice. It's what coaches me through battles. It's kinda like we're working as a sort of, well, a team," she confessed, not sure of what he would think.

"Although this voice of yours is a mysterious entity I am pleased that it is helpful and not harmful to you," he replied.

"Me too," she smiled as they left the room. Glancing down she checked the cut to her amour plating. A small amount of energon was leaking out but it was nothing serious.

Seeing the energon, Optimus looked down at where she had struck him, those places also needing a small amount of repair. "We ought go visit our medic," he suggested.

Nodding, Violetwind followed as he led the way to the medical bay where Ratchet was working. The white and orange mech whirled around in surprise upon hearing them enter, quickly scrubbing what was on the screens as he did so.

"Optimus, Violetwind," he greeted in a guarded manner. His demeanour immediately changed as he saw their leaking energon. Approaching them he scolded, "What have you two been up to? Neither of you has even left the base!"

"Um, well..." The femme started.

"We have engaged in a small battle. I required knowledge of our latest additions fighting capabilities. The only way to truly determine such, is through a battle. I have deemed her ready to accompany her fellow Autobots on assignments," the Prime explained while Ratchet sat him down to weld up the nick to his side.

The medic glanced over at the purple bot, "So I see she. She got hits on you."

Violetwind stared at the ground and felt her faceplates flush. "I think he was going easy on me..." Though she was both thrilled and terrified that Optimus had just allowed her to go on missions. Sparring with other Autobots was one thing, fighting Decepticons was something else entirely.

Turning back to his work, the medic made a noise in agreement.

Soon enough Optimus was repaired and he left the medical bay to continue his decoding. It was Violetwind's turn to be patched up and she was sitting on the berth.

"So am I really ready to go out there?" she aired her fears to the medic.

While working, Ratchet replied gruffly, "Physically you're healthy and if Optimus says your fighting skills are good enough, then they are."

Her optics glanced over at the mech. He had not really answered like she had been hoping he would, instead almost ducking the question. She wondered if she should try again but did not bother. Most likely he would only avoid it again. It made her wonder what he was hiding though.

"You're all done," Ratchet grumbled, backing off and letting her stand.

"Thanks, Ratchet," hopping off the berth, she headed off to leave. Pausing before she did, Violetwind looked back at the medic asking hesitantly, "You would tell me if there was something wrong, wouldn't you?"

"Of course," he replied quickly, though it did nothing to sedate the worry niggling at her insides.

With a silent nod she left but was unconvinced by his words.

Travelling to the main hub she walked in hearing Smokescreen as he looked over at their leader in admiration. "I'm gonna be a great warrior some day, like Optimus."

"Well train hard and gain some wisdom along the way and I'm sure it'll happen," encouraged Bulkhead.

"Oh it will, it's my destiny," the rookie replied confidently.

"I think I'd settle for a life without worry," Violetwind said quietly as she settled in to stand amongst the group, evidently no one having heard her comment.

The yellow scout beeped at Smokescreen, while Arcee asked, "How so?"

The young mech was only too happy to explain. "Well, one minute I'm on security detail at Iacon, the next, I wake upon the other side of the galaxy to find myself under Optimus' command. I mean what are the chances, right? Things happen for a reason!"

The blue femme rolled her optics, "We get it, Smokescreen," she raised her arm, waving her hand at him dismissively, her voice laced with sarcasm, "You're special, we're lucky to have you."

"All I'm really saying is, I've come a long way and this is one opportunity I don't plan one messing up," he replied earnestly, doing his best to get them to see things his way.

Before they could continue, and possibly turn the conversation into an argument, Optimus interrupted, "Autobots. The next Iacon coordinates have been decoded. Ratchet, ready the ground bridge."

The medic, who had just walked in, went straight over to the ground bridge controls and input the desired location.

Smokescreen stepped forward excitedly, "Last one to the Omega Key has to scrub the energon tanks for a week!"

With another roll of her eyes, Arcee muttered, "Didn't know we were keeping score."

Violetwind just shared a look with the blue femme and a shrug of her shoulders. She was not that eager to get out there anyway.

Optimus promptly dashed the rookie's excitement when he called out those going. "Arcee, Bumblebee. Prepare to roll out."

The scout beeped happily, performing a small fist pump before he and Arcee headed for the ground bridge.

"Wait, what about me?" Smokescreen questioned, clearly disappointed at being left out.

Bulkhead huffed his displeasure. The rookie was not the only one being left behind.

"I mean, me and Bulkhead," he corrected.

"And me," Violetwind broke in, informing the mech, "I can go on missions now too."

He turned to face her, grinning, "Hey, that's great news! Another bot to help kick the 'Con's skidplates."

"The three of you will remain here, in the event I am able to decode a subsequent database entry before the others return," their leader explained.

Ratchet added his own feelings in the matter, "Optimus is right. Considering the very fate of Cybertron is at stake, response time is critical." He glanced briefly at their leader with slight disapproval, knowing that his little sparring session with the femme may have cost them some time. Turning away from the bots he pulled down the ground bridge lever, the swirling vortex appearing immediately.

"Keep your engines idling, kid," Arcee told the overly eager mech. "Come on, Bee, 'destiny awaits.'" The femme threw her head back in mockery before she transformed down into her alt-mode to travel through the ground bridge, quickly followed by Bumblebee as he did the same.

The vortex closed behind them and Bulkhead moved over to stand by Smokescreen. "We call it a pit-stop." The green mech, hit his younger companion on the back, knocking the smaller bot forward, "We'll get back in the race."

The rookie rolled his shoulder from the discomfort caused by the strong slap to the back.

Violetwind grinned, "It's not that bad, Smokescreen. There are worse things to do than wait."

"Exactly," agreed Bulkhead.

Slumping his shoulders, the rookie did not protest any further.

"How about we find a good movie on the telly," the purple femme suggested.

"Yeah, alright," he replied but was not very enthusiastic about it.

Going over to the humans' TV, Violetwind turned it on and started flipping through the channels searching for a good movie that they could watch. She sighed as she flipped through things like _The Notebook_, _2012_, _Titanic_, and a few others. For a moment she considered staying and watching _The Help_ but decided that Smokescreen probably would not enjoy it as much as she might. Instead she settled on a _Star Wars_ movie: _A New Hope_.

"This one's good, Smoke. Lot's of action for ya,"

He turned his attention to the screen, having wandered over after her but otherwise not paid it any mind. The mech soon found himself engrossed in the story, especially liking the action scenes.

Unfortunately for him, the young mech would not be able to finish the movie this time. The monitors were flashing, beeps alerting them to something happening.

"Another key?" asked Smokescreen, his optics locked on the TV.

"No," grunted Ratchet. "It's energon."

Violetwind looked over at the medic. "Well that's good then. We're always in need of more."

Their leader silently weighed his options before letting them know of his decision, "Smokescreen, Violetwind, you will scout out the possible energon source. Be on the look out for Decepticons. Where there is energon they are usually not far away."

A nervous excitement grew within the femme's spark. It would be her first official mission and she hoped she would not mess it up. "I'm ready, Optimus."

Her companion on the other hand was still a little wrapped up in the movie. Rolling her optics, the femme knocked on his helm. "Earth to Smokescreen. We're leaving."

Glancing at her, then back at the TV, then back to her, he groaned. "I'd better be able to see the end of that later."

Violetwind shook her head grinning. "I'll ask one of the humans to bring over a DVD for you. Now come on." Pressing her hands against his shoulder, the femme started to try and push him towards the ground bridge.

"You know today would be nice," grumbled Ratchet, optics narrowed.

"Hey, ok ok," chuckled the white and blue mech. "I'm going." Transforming down into his alt-mode he drove off for the ground bridge. "Now look who's being left behind."

Stumbling a little from the sudden loss of the force she was pushing against, the purple femme caught herself, before glaring good naturedly after him. Quickly she grabbed a scanner from Ratchet before transforming and rolling after him.

"I'm not sure you should have teamed them up..." muttered the medic. "They're both so inexperienced."

Optimus stared at the now closed ground bridge. "Perhaps... We shall see."

...

The pair found themselves in the dusty, rocky desert, surrounded by sparse shrub-land.

"It's this way," the purple femme pointed towards the canyon looking up from the scanner.

Walking over Smokescreen asked, "So they have more movies like that one?"

She nodded. "Yep. There are six of them actually. I'm sure you'll enjoy the rest as well."

"Have you seen them?"

The question actually made her pause, mentally and physically. Something was odd. She remembered things about those movies but could not recall having actually watched them. "I... I might have..." she replied still trying to process it. "Maybe... Do you think this might not be my first time on Earth?"

The mech was taken back by her sudden question. "Why? You remembering something?"

"Yeah, or at least I might b-" she was cut off by an explosion from down in the canyon.

Sharing looks of surprise the pair dropped their conversation and sprinted to the edge. Looking down they saw vehicon troopers scattered around the bottom: dead. The only living thing down there was a certain ex-Decepticon who was just lowering his arm which no longer contained its usual missile.

"Starscream," the mech muttered distastefully.

"Not a friend then?"

Smokescreen shook his head. "He used to be a Decepticon but went rouge. Looks like he cleared out the 'Cons for us though."

Soaking up this information she stared down at the thin silver figure in the valley as he collected the enegon cubes.

Something seemed off about the scene but she could not tell what. Then it clicked. There was no mine entrance around here and so no reason for energon to be there. "Smokescreen, the Decepticons tried to set a trap!"

He snickered at the news, "Good thing Screamer took care of it for us then. All we gotta do it take care of him. C'mon let's get down there."

Before she had a chance to reply, the mech had already thrown himself over the edge, getting down with a combination of sliding and jumping.

Violetwind groaned, watching him go. She was not sure she pull off a decent like that but she had to get down somehow. Getting herself over the edge, the purple femme started making her way down, albeit at a much slower pace than her companion.

Smokescreen had quickly found himself at the bottom of the canyon and prepared his blasters for battle. "Hey Screamy, mind handing over those energon cubes," he asked, weapons pointed at the seeker.

Starscream whirled around to face the mech, a scowl framing his face. "Go to the pit, Autobot." he grumbled, not about to give up the energon he needed and had just fought hard to win.

"After you. I could just blow you and it up with one shot," he narrowed his eyes at the silver mech.

The flier glared at him, "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me," Smokescreen challenged.

Violetwind had finally made her way to the bottom and came up from behind her fellow Autobot, her own blasters at the ready.

A look of surprise crossed Starscream's face, "You?"

The femme's face took on her confusion. Did she know him? "Yes?" she answered not sure what to say.

Smokescreen turned to look back at her, not sure what was going on either. Unfortunately, the ex-Decepticon took advantage of his distraction to quickly fire off his missile above the Autobot. It exploded on the cliff side, rocks coming tumbling down onto the mech; hitting him on the head. He crashed to the ground unconscious under the rubble.

"Smokescreen!" Violetwind yelled rushing over, having managed to escape the main fall of the rocks. Forgetting about Starscream, she started to frantically dig him out.

When she managed to unearth his body she breathed a sigh of relief, he was dented but still alive.

The rouge walked over staring down at the mech tutting, "Such a shame."

"You could have killed him!"

"Well that was the point," he replied in a bored tone. "What happened to you anyway? Still hanging out with the Autobots, I see. Don't suppose you brought a certain femme with you to Earth?"

Violetwind stood up, glancing at the silver mech curiously. From her inner voice she felt like she once knew the seeker. "No. I came alone." Letting a few moments of silence pass, she asked, "Why'd you go rouge, Starscream?"

The mech scoffed, his tone bitter. "What was there to stay for? Megatron tried to scrap me anyway."

She looked over at him sympathetically. "Bit harsh."

Her inner voice chuckled, _He probably deserved it. Starscream was never the most loyal._

"I know," he grumbled, "Megatron just can't appreciate all that I've done for the Decepticon cause. Well no longer, I only serve one now: me!"

_He still hasn't lost his arrogance I see._

_How do we know him?_ she silently questioned her voice.

_We used to know him back before the war and a few times during. Got know him a bit. Even then he wasn't exactly the nicest of guys so you couldn't go about calling him any kind of friend. Perhaps 'acquaintance you have too keep your optic on lest he back-stab you' would best describe him. _

Turning her conversion back to the mech, she asked gently, "Doesn't that get a bit lonely?"

The mech spluttered. "Lonely? Being alone is better than being unappreciated and beat to scrap."

"You could, perhaps just choose a better leader..." The femme tried to subtly suggest changing sides.

He grunted. "Join the Autobots you mean? I'm not ready to be with those bunch of bots too good for their own pedes."

Shrugging she replied, "Well it was just a suggestion." Though she thought it was a little bit of shame he could not be convinced to change sides.

"One which I shall not take. I'll go back to Megatron first." Changing the subject, the mech asked her, "What're you doing on earth then?"

"Um, well, you know dropping by and all," she avoided answering him directly. It wasn't like she knew what she was doing there herself.

Starscream narrowed his red optics at her. "It's not like you to be so unsure of yourself..."

The femme grinned nervously, "Oh really, Starscream? Well you know it has been a while. Bots change..."

He narrowed his optics at her, dissatisfied with the answer. His fingers made a 'shink' noise as he extended his blade like fingers. "You're not the Violetwind I once knew. Who are you really?"

Holding out her blasters at the mech she took a few wary steps backward. "Don't come any closer, Starscream," she warned him, her voice unfortunately not quite carrying the forceful tone she had been going for.

The silver mech merely laughed, not phased by her apparent threat. "Oh come on. Just tell me. It's not like I have anyone to share it with?"

"I'm- I'm Violetwind. Autobot and on Team Prime," she replied nervously, feeling a slight shake in her knees, door wings twitching.

"Please don't play games with me. I knew her. And she would never be as afraid as you, she was much more strong willed," he rolled his optics.

_Scrap, this isn't going well._

Violetwind replied almost shouting, "I- I am her!" She tried to convince him. "I- I just had an accident..." she admitted.

He raised an optic ridge at this, becoming curious.

"My ship, it crashed to Earth and... I don't know what happened..."

_Wait-_

"You don't remember the crash?" he asked a little confused.

"I don't remember what happened, ever..." she clarified.

_Don't-_

Starscream's optics widened. "You lost everything?"

The femme nodded.

_Slag... What did you go and tell him for?!_

_What? Bad idea?_ Her gaze drifted to the ground.

The voice only made a groaning sort of sound. _It could have been. Seriously, why..._

The mech meanwhile blinked a few times. "You don't remember anything? Not a single thing?"

Looking back up at the ex-Decepticon she shook her head. "Not unless she tells me something..." she replied without thinking.

"She?"

Realising what she had let slip, Violetwind groaned raising a blaster to her helm in a face-palm motion. Figuring that it probably could not hurt to just tell him anyway she told him. "Well, there's this voice that talks to me and I know that sounds like I've got some sort of glitch but it's true and is helpful to me."

"Curious..." was all the mech muttered to himself, stroking his chin staring off into the distance. "Did she... Impossible..." His optics met her confused ones and he smirked. "Well I think I'll take my leave of you. You have proven to be most... Interesting..."

It was then that the forgotten Smokescreen started to stir.

"Ah, and not too soon it seems," walking away Starscream quickly piled his arms with half of the energon cubes. "I bid you farewell, 'Violetwind.'" He smirked again before calling up a ground bridge and walking through.

For a moment the femme could only stare after where she had last seen him. It sounded like he might have known something. "And I just let him get away..." she muttered breathlessly, door wings dropping as she realised her mistake.

"Let who get away?" questioned a voice behind her followed by a groan.

Whirling around she immediately went over to the mech, helping him out of the rocks.

"Oh, nothing..." she replied innocently. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just a few dents." Standing up, Smokescreen looked around. "Hey, where's Starscream?"

"He left."

"You chased him off?" he asked in surprise.

"Not _exactly_. We didn't fight. He just walked off, taking some of the energon with him," the purple femme explained.

"But there's still some there," he pointed out. "Couldn't he carry any more?"

Turning her gaze to the blue energon cubes she smiled. "You know I think he could if he had wanted to. I don't think Starscream is as bad as everyone makes him out..."

* * *

I have to admit I quite like the sparring scene with Violet and Optimus. :D  
And forgive my movie choice, I had been rewatching Star Wars at the time of writing this and went with it.

Side note: I saw a car that looked like Violet this week! Ok so it was a Ford not a Holden but it was the perfect colour to what I imagined her in the first place, plus rear spoiler (gotta love those things). Rather wish I'd had my phone on me at the time to get a photo :(


	11. Chapter 11

As this chapter marks the halfway point, 11 chapters to go, I just want to say thanks to my readers! I hope you're liking it so far and that you'll continue to do so!  
Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 11

Returning to the base, Violetwind and Smokescreen brought back the energon cubes that the rouge Starscream had left behind. Despite being few in number, the energon cubes gained were still helpful with their energon supply at an almost constant low. Not only that but neither of them gotten seriously hurt making their gain more worthwhile.

However, not long after they got back, Arcee and Bumblebee stumbled through the ground bridge, both heavily injured. Ratchet quickly rushed them off to the medical bay so he could tend to them, while everyone else gathered around to hear what had happened.

The blue femme sat on the berth, her hand clutching her waist. "I'm sorry, Optimus. Knock Out was there... waiting for us. Seems the 'Cons are improving their decoding skills."

Ratchet glanced their way while he worked on the yellow scout. "And it seems that with two keys already separated no one currently possesses the means to revive Cybertron."

"While our quest to restore our planet may have reached a stalemate, securing the remaining keys is still the most prudent course of action," replied Optimus in his usual deep authoritative voice. His plan did seem to be the wisest way to advance.

So having had his say, the Prime left them to go back to decoding the next set of Iacon coordinates, hoping to reach them before the Decepticons.

The purple femme stared at the ground, things were not looking good for Cybertron's revival but at least they could keep it out of the hands of the Decepticons by getting to the last two keys before they did. They would find a way to get the one their enemies currently possessed.

"Man, it must have been crazy with Knock Out going all sonic," Smokescreen tossed his head in annoyance at having missed it. "Humph, I wish I'd been there, I would've..." The rookie trailed off, punching at the air a few times.

Arcee frowned, glaring daggers at the younger mech. Bitterly she snapped at him, "You would've what? Recovered the key like you did the first one?"

He was caught off guard by her anger, arms dropping limply to his sides, "Maybe... Who knows? I just want us to be firing on all cylinders, you know, now that the Star Saber is gone." The mech shrugged, "And I have a pretty good track record so far."

The anger coming from Arcee could practically be felt across the other side of the room. Violetwind grimaced as the two wheeler grunted and stood up. Holding her left elbow with her other hand, the blue femme slowly walked off, looking about ready to scrap Smokescreen but controlling herself just enough to get away from his presence.

Bulkhead started down at the white mech. "Look, kid. Arcee and Bumblebee are no slouches and Optimus managed just fine for eons without the big sword. Course you wouldn't know about that. You've been in stasis the whole time we've been fighting this war."

Smokescreen's hands gestured in agreement in front of him, "Exactly! And I'm ready to make up for lost time! I mean, even Violetwind has seen more action than I have, she just doesn't remember it."

The femme looked over at him with displeasure, a flicker of hurt in her optics. "No, I don't. But I'm not getting up in everyone's faces about needing to get in it."

Sending a comforting glance over at her, the large green mech looked back at Smokescreen firmly speaking to him, "When Optimus says you're ready, you'll get your chance." He gave the rookie a hard look. "You've gotta be in this for the long haul. Slow and steady wins the race."

The younger mech looked between them before giving a small sigh and leaving.

Looking over at Bulkhead, the purple femme tried to smile. "We've all got things we still need to learn..."

"Yeah, but he's not doing anyone any favours in the mean time," he replied glancing after the rookie.

Some time later the bots were loitering around the main hub when the monitors started to beep where Optimus was working.

"The next coordinates are ready," he informed them.

Ratchet walked over to the ground bridge controls to input the destination. "There remains only one set left to decode," he muttered, realising how close they were to locating the last keys and restoring Cybertron.

Bulkhead thumped his fists together, nodding at their leader, "On it boss."

"I'm gonna bring back that key!" the rookie enthusiastically punched at the air before catching Arcee looking at him. He promptly stopped and walked towards the ground bridge with slumped shoulders, his mood crushed a little.

Glancing at Optimus, Violetwind silently questioned whether she was to accompany them. Seeing her look, the mech nodded allowing her to go. She was not sure whether to be pleased about this or not but she acknowledged him and headed after the pair, who were already leaving.

"Uh, Bulk," Arcee called after them, "Forgetting something?" She held up the scanner he had neglected to retrieve.

"Herrr..." The mech smacked his face at the realisation of his mistake, walking over to collect it from her.

Handing the device over, the blue femme quickly grabbed his wrist, drawing him closer to mutter quietly, "Make sure you keep and optic on 'destiny's child' ok? And make sure to keep that femme safe. "

He grinned, "Heh, compared to watching Miko, piece of cake. Nothing to worry about." With that he quickly ran off into the ground bridge as they set off for the third Omega key.

The trio exited the vortex with their blasters at the ready as they checked their surroundings. The forest they had stepped into was devoid of anything as far as they could see. The only thing moving was the orange and yellow autumn leaves falling around them.

"Stay close. Stay focused," Bulkhead commanded his two companions.

"Gotcha," Smokescreen waved an arm in acknowledgement.

The larger mech gave him a hard look, "I mean it!"

"Me too," he responded innocently.

"Guys, shhh," Violetwind tried to quieten them. Something was making noises not normal to a forest.

Staying quiet, the three of them listened, the sound of beeping filling their audio receptors.

The younger mech asked the question in all their minds, "What is that?"

A gravelly voice came from a hill above them, answering him, "One of the last sounds that you will ever hear."

Their heads whipped around, gazes locking onto the speaker.

"Dreadwing," the green Autobot muttered bitterly, narrowing his optics at the mech.

The Decepticon second in command transformed into a jet, flying low over the trio. All of them were forced to dive out of his way or risk being hit.

Getting up, Violetwind made sure she was alright before glancing over at the two mechs. Smokescreen was still getting up but looked unharmed while Bulkhead had an alarmed look on his face, which was a little amusing as a leaf floated down in front of it. She had to hold in giggles, trying to remind herself that this was a serious situation with a dangerous Decepticon nearby.

"We gotta get outta here. Now!" Quickly Bulkhead grabbed both their arms and started to run.

Tripping over her own feet as she tried to keep up, the femme asked, "What's going on?"

"Bombs," he replied, summing their danger up into one word.

Only then she realised the sound of beeping had intensified, coming from all around them. Adding to the sense of doom, the frequency of the beeps was increasing. Then the explosions started. Picking up the pace, the Autobots raced through the trees, the bombs that Dreadwing planted, going off around them.

The purple femme found herself letting out a few short shrieks as some went off a little too close to comfort, feeling the intense heat against her armour. One even knocked down a tree into their path. So using her hands, she quickly flung herself over.

Escaping the explosions they leapt down a cliff, tumbling down the slope of the blackened landscape. Landing at the bottom Violetwind groaned, not sure if she wanted to move but knowing she had to get up anyway. She heard the heavy thump of something large landing, which she believed must have been the Decepticon. A quick glance in that direction confirmed it to be him.

"Violet, Smoke, I'll handle Dreadwing. Go get the relic," Bulkhead tossed the scanner at Smokescreen.

Catching it, he nodded, "You got it. Come on."

With final glance at the green mech, the femme ran after Smokescreen, the two of them getting out of there before Dreadwing could involve them in a fight.

Once the pair were far enough away they came to a stop, the white mech consulting the scanner.

The femme peaked over his shoulder, "So where are we going?"

"This way," he replied, heading off in the direction he indicated.

Smokescreen led the way and they walked along in silence. Trailing after him, she kept her optics sharp for any sign of more trouble. With blasters at the ready, her door wings twitched in anticipation. They could do without further surprises hampering their retrieval of the key.

Catching sight of a fireball plume from the direction they had left Bulkhead, Violetwind muttered with concern, "I hope he's ok."

"Over here!" the rookie broke into her worry, calling her over excitedly and handing her the scanner so he could dig.

Becoming lookout, she sighed with relief as Bulkhead's voice came over the comm. **::**Guys, I'm on my way.**::**

"That's good. We'll be able to get out of here in a sec then," the femme mumbled, optics on the surrounding forest for movement.

Digging out the relic container, Smokescreen grinned whispering, "Destiny..." But before he could open it he was struck hard on the back, falling to the ground unconscious.

Hearing the unusual sound behind her, the femme turned back to her companion. She gasped seeing him on the ground, "Smoke!" Bending over, she tried to rouse him when something struck her, knocking her out as well.

...

"Smokescreen... Violetwind... Come on guys, wake up!" A voice broke through the blackness of the femme's mind.

She wanted to break free, to head toward the voice but something was keeping her there, chaining her to the dark pit. Her whole body was in pain, feeling like she was on fire. Her limbs felt heavy and she could not move them. All she wanted to do was scream out in pain but she could not even do that, no sound would escape her mouth. More than that was a feeling of hopelessness, no one was around to come to her rescue.

Struggling through the dark fog she finally did wake, opening her optics to see the forest around her. A flood of panic washed over her and she let out a scream, "Ahhhhhhhh!" scrambling backwards as she did so, only to hit something metal.

"Hey, you alright?" asked the green mech looking down at her, his face filled with concern.

Realising that she was not alone and no longer in any pain, the femme vented heavily for a few seconds before calming down enough to reply, "I- I think so... I just got a little panicked there. I had- I had a horrible nightmare..."

"It's ok now," Bulkhead assured her with a smile.

The femme grinned, glad she was not alone. After a deep calming intake of air, she got to her pedes, looking around slowly and recalling why she was on the ground. It came to her remembrance of behind hit on the back of the helm, though by what she did not know.

"What happened?" the two of them turned to the awakening Smokescreen as he too started to rise.

The green mech reached over to help him up. "That's I wanna to know," he glanced at both of them looking for answers.

Smokescreen roughly yanked his arm from the mech's grasp. "The Omega Key!" He looked around frantically, hoping it was still there but it was not. "I had it, until- something hit me from behind."

"Yeah I got hit too," Violetwind added. "I didn't see whatever it was though."

"Dreadwing must have had backup. That relic's long gone." Lifting his hand to his helm he called back to base. "Ratchet, we need a bridge."

"I... I'd told Optimus I'd return with that key..." the younger mech was still lamenting over the loss of the relic.

Violetwind smiled sadly at him, knowing that he felt like he had failed. He wanted so badly to become something great, to impress Optimus, that he did not take well seeing himself as a failure.

The ground bridge opened up beside them, all glancing toward it briefly.

"Listen kid, Alpha Trion said we need all four keys to restore Cybertron, remember?" Bulkhead did his best to make him feel better, "We just need to hang onto the one we have and find a way to get the others back from Megatron."

"And I'm sure we'll find a way," the femme tried to be positive, as they headed back through the ground bridge.

Above the three Autobots and out of their sight, a lone ex-Decepticon had been eavesdropping. He grinned maliciously to himself, looking at the relic he was holding. "It seems I have the promise of a new Cybertron in the palm of my hand, when I obtain all four..." Starscream already began formulating a devious plan to go about obtaining them. He briefly considered finding out more about Violetwind's condition but dismissed it; though he might be curious, it was of no use to him. Perhaps he could find out more about once he had completed his plans.

...

Back at base they were telling Arcee about what happened.

"They were sucker punched. Coulda happened to any of us," the green mech rested a hand on the rookie's shoulder.

Smokescreen shook off the gesture, continuing with his guilt trip. "But it didn't. Cause I was the one who dropped his guard. I was the one who blew it. Some great warrior I'm turning out to be..."

"You weren't the only one out there you know. We were both taken off guard. Even I didn't see them coming," the purple femme interrupted, folding her arms.

"You don't get it do you," Arcee glared at him, speaking harshly, "A couple of victories aren't going to make you a legend and not every mission results in success. Not for me, not for Bee, not even for Optimus."

The leader himself turned from his decoding work to look over at his team. He had been listening to them talk but had shown no signs of it until then. The direction of the conversation was leading down a path he did not believe would prove helpful.

The blue femme continued her rant seeming to not have noticed that their leader was paying attention. "We've gained relics and we've lost some. We've also lost friends. We've even lost a world. But this is one time we get a do over. We have a chance to bring back Cybertron and everyone in this room needs to be in sync. This isn't about you or your destiny."

Despite all that Smokescreen had said and the way he seemed to think he was so important in his own mind, Violetwind began to feel that Arcee was being too harsh with him. Kicking him when he was down was not going to help anyone, least of all him. She somewhat knew how he felt, the key had been stolen from under her watch too.

Prime stepped in to stop Arcee, believing that she had gone far enough, "Arcee, you have made your point." He had been Prime for a long time and knew when to push and when to relax with something such as this.

"Optimus, he needs to hear this," she protested, determined to finish what she had started and quickly turned back to the rookie. "You might actually become a great warrior one day – and I sincerely hope that you do – but greatness begins and ends with putting the team first, not your personal score card."

"There's nothing I wouldn't do for you guys!" he raised his voice defensively.

"Then stop trying to be a hero and start trying to be an Autobot!"

Smokescreen snapped back at her, "You know what? Maybe I'm just not good enough!" He had been pushed too far and wanted no more of it. Spinning around he transformed down into his alt-mode and sped out of the base.

"Wait, Smokescreen!" Violetwind called after him but he had already gone.

The medic grunted, stepping forward he gave a firm glance at Arcee. "Next time Optimus advises you to stop, perhaps you should listen."

"I'll bring him back," Bulkhead started to move towards the exit.

Optimus reached out a hand to stop him. "Smokescreen is young, Bulkhead, and has much to learn. But right now he needs to clear his thoughts. And I need to finish decoding the final Iacon entry."

"You're just gonna let him leave like that?" the purple femme looked up at Prime, anger and worry in her optics.

"Smokescreen will in all likelihood return once he has taken the time to calm down," he replied evenly.

"You're not at all concerned?"

Arcee vented, "I'm sure 'destiny's child' can take care of himself."

Shooting the femme a glare, Violetwind kept from raising her voice, "Well I'm not leaving him alone. He didn't leave me when I needed help so I'm gonna do the same." Quickly she transformed and drove out before anyone had the chance to stop her.

Driving out into the Nevada desert night, she tried to comm Smokescreen, "Smoke?Smokescreen you there? Scrap," she muttered getting no answer. He must have turned off his comm link.

Speeding up she followed the road searching for his headlights. He had not been gone long and she should be able to catch up with him, or so she hoped. But for right now she could see nothing.

After a few minutes she caught sight of another vehicle's rear lights in the road ahead. Her engine thrummed as she hurried to catch it. Within moments she was behind it's rear bumper only to realise that it was not an Autobot. It was just a regular car, with a human occupant. She sighed with disappointment, overtaking it to continue her search.

_He's got to be around here somewhere. _

_You didn't have to do this you know. He would be fine by himself,_ her voice commented.

_I know that but he's a friend and you're supposed to be there for friends,_ she responded.

When it replied she could practically hear the smile in its voice, _You're loyal, I like that._

_Haha, well that's good cause you're stuck with me._ Suddenly something struck her as puzzling. _Why'd you say that? Weren't we loyal before? _

_I- we- yes, of course..._

_What's going on? What do you mean? _She questioned, suddenly not feeling so confident about the entity in her head. Something was definitely not right. Something about it was just odd...

_Well, ah_, it faltered before suddenly changing the subject, _Hey over there!_

"No, you've got some explaining to do, your not-" she stopped upon seeing the headlights of a car drive off the road in the distance. "Smokescreen..."

Quickly she raced after it, getting close enough to recognise the white vehicle with unique red and blue sports car detailing. No one else but the young Autobot looked like that.

Driving up after him she called out, relieved that she had found him, "Smokescreen!"

The mech did not respond except to drive off a little way and turned off his lights. Not being deterred she followed, pulling up beside him. "Smokescreen," she spoke softly, "Come back to base. We can work this out. You _are_ an important part of the team..."

Transforming back to his robot mode he glared down at Violetwind and snapped, "I don't want to hear it!" Turning his back to her, he stared out into the desert.

The purple femme returned to robot mode as well, door wings lowered and optics saddened, "Smoke, please... Don't be like this..."

He whirled around to face her, anger and disappointment on his features. "Don't be like what? Don't try to do my best? Don't want to win this war? Don't believe that everything to do with our future rests with those keys? What?!"

Put off by his response it took her a moment before she could reply. When she did she snapped back at him, hurt by his outburst. "Don't act like a child! Not everything revolves around you! Nobody wins wars single-handedly! You know what? I had thought Arcee had been too hash on you but now I think she might not have been harsh enough! You can't seem to get in through that thick helm of yours!"

"Well if that's how ya feel why did you come?! You certainly don't have to stay!"

"Cause I thought I was being a good friend! Guess I know now you don't have any of those!"

"Yeah, well, I don't need them if all they're gonna do is put me down!" he yelled back.

"Fine. I'll leave you to yourself then!" She gave him a final glare before transforming into her alt-mode once again. Revving her engine, she burst off leaving him in a cloud of dust.

"Fine!" he returned, settling down against one of the rock formations.

However, Smokescreen was not left in peace long before something from the air started to shooting at him. It was Soundwave's 'pet'; Laserbeak. Ducking out of the way of the shots, he got to his pedes, raising his arms with blasters at the ready. "You picked the wrong day to mess with me 'Con!"

...

The femme huffed as she drove off. Right now she felt a rather mixed bag of emotions from upset to furious to disappointed. Like what was Smokescreen thinking? Had some sort of superiority bug bitten him on the rear?

Breaking into her thoughts was Optimus on the Comm link. **::**Violetwind, is Smokescreen with you? You both need to ground bridge back to base. Now.**:: **

"Is everything ok, Optimus?" she asked, not sure why he sounded so serious.

**::**He may be in grave danger.**::**

"I'm not currently with him but I will be in two shakes of a lamb's tail!"

Putting on the brakes she span around and raced back to where she had left Smokescreen. But trouble had already found the rookie.

He was firing up at a flying metal bird, said bird also firing back. For the most part he was doing well and dodging the shots, unfortunately though it was the same for the bird. The metallic flyer whirling around, each of his shots missing it completely.

Close to him a ground bridge opened, which at first caused Violetwind to believe that the Autobots had arrived. It was not to be. Instead Soundwave walked through, dashing her hopes.

"Smokescreen! Look out!" she cried in warning. Transforming she started to run towards him, drawing out her blasters. Fearful, yet trying not to show it, she fired at the Decepticon, her shots flying wide.

The white mech glanced in her direction briefly before turning to see what she was firing at. Smokescreen did not get the chance to attack the newcomer himself as Soundwave fired a round from his resonance blaster, the weapon scrambling his circuits and knocking him unconscious.

"Smokescreen!" she yelled. Alarm flooded her as she was now alone in the desert with the silent but dangerous Decepticon third in command. Her spark beat rapidly as his faceless head turned in her direction.

Lifting the weapons she unintentionally lowered when Smokescreen had been hit, she took aim at Soundwave. Unfortunately, before she could get off a shot, the mech raised his own. A pulse hit her and she lost all sense of her surroundings. Collapsing, she hit the ground, closing her optics with a small groan before she too fell unconscious.

Collective his prizes, Soundwave knew his master would be pleased. Not only had he captured the mech from the final Iacon entry but he had also recaptured, the ex-Decepticon weapon scientist.

Dragging them both towards his ground bridge he merely looked over his shoulder briefly as the another ground bridge opened up, the Autobots leaping from it. Instantly they spotted him, charging in his direction. They were too far away though and as such, were of no concern to him. So Soundwave kept on his way and quickly disappeared into the glowing vortex.

"Noo!" Optimus yelled after the mech, coming to stand where he had vanished with Smokescreen and Violetwind. Guilt and grief tore at his spark. He should not have let them go off alone. They were his responsibility and he had failed to protect them.

Megatron once again held them captive and had them at his mercy.

* * *

And captured. Again. Like seriously, you guys must be jinxed or something XD


	12. Chapter 12

And it's that time of the week for an new chapter to arrive! I'd like to say a big thanks to my readers, we made it to 1500 views for the story this week!

So enjoy the next chapter guys!

* * *

Chapter 12

_Laughter. _

_She could hear laughter. _

_Was it hers? _

_No. She was sure of that. _

_But where was it coming from? Everything was dark. Nothing made any sense. Was she dreaming again? And why was there laughter filling her audio receptors? _

_After a while of seeming to wander the darkness, she noticed that the laughter was actually friendly, there was no malice behind it. It sounded genuine like the person or persons were enjoying themselves, just having a good time. Could it be a memory? _

_Finally something came into focus. Sitting around in a loose circle were six femmes; one was blue, one green, another silver and blue, another a light green, one red and the last pink. They were chatting and laughing, simply enjoying themselves under the shade of some large trees. The atmosphere around them was kind and welcoming. _

_Violetwind wished to go over and join them but as hard as she tried she could not move. Instead she attempted to call to them but not a word left of her mouth. With pedes glued in place and vocalisers not working she was left to watch from the sidelines. _

_Soon, however, the vision started to fade replaced with another scene entirely. This one much harsher. A battle was taking place in a strange metallic world. One side was fighting desperately to keep the other from destroying a large yellow spacecraft. Looking out over the fighting she realised that it was the Autobots and they were defending the space vessel from the Decepticons. Her chest constricted with the emotional pain of seeing Autobots and Decepticons alike, cut down in the war The loss of life from both sides was devastating. _

_This too faded to darkness, replaced with a pain over her entire body. It felt like all her limbs had been broken, all screaming out in pain at once. It felt like she was leaking from several places. It felt like... she was dying..._

Then suddenly the nightmare broke off, returning her to the real world. With optics bursting to life, she awoke with a start, rapidly venting air through her intakes.

The purple femme was lying on a cold metal floor with her wrists cuffed together. It took her a moment to remember what was real and what was not. To remember that she had only been dreaming about the other femmes and the war and the pain. Right then she glanced around the dark room which surrounded her. Slowly she pushed herself off the ground into a sitting position, her joints feeling stiff from the hard floor and disuse. With a roll of her shoulders and a stretch of her door wings she rid herself of some of the stiffness.

"Smokescreen," she muttered softly, recalling how she had been with him when Laserbeak, Soundwave's pet, had attacked. Its master had come along not long after and must have knocked her out after their brief skirmish.

Sighing, she raised herself the rest of the way to her pedes, now knowing where she was; only that she must have been aboard the _Nemesis_. The Decepticons had captured her a second time, along with Smokescreen. Violetwind could feel panic rising up in her. He had been captured but was not in her cell. She was alone without knowing if he was alright. Or even why they had taken him in the first place assuming he was the intended target.

Hissing with displeasure, she remembered their fight before the attack. Oh how she wished she could take it back. She regretted yelling at him now, regretted having left him alone. If she had been there, they might have had a better chance at fighting off Soundwave and Laserbeak, maybe even not have found themselves in this mess.

Banging her helm against the wall, she took solace in the repeated sound. The clang of metal against metal. Denting her helm was the least of her worries. It could not be worse than what the Decepticons had in mind for her.

Eventually she tired of the banging, just resting the front of her helm against the wall. The scattered emotions and thoughts in her mind slowly began to settle, bringing to remembrance another thing that had happened the night before.

"So my mysterious voice, think you might start explaining some things? Like what's going on?" she muttered, turning around to lean against the wall before lowering herself into a sitting position. "You've been keeping secrets. And I _want_ to know about them."

_Well, I'm afraid you're not getting any answers from me,_ it replied firmly.

The femme had not been prepared for that kind of response and it took a few moments for her to come up with what to say next. When she did she grumbled lightly, "You can't be like that! Whatever this is, it isn't normal. What are you, why are you here?"

_I'm here because I have to be. You need me, I need you. That's all you need to know. _

"But..." she whined, "But that doesn't help me... I mean... what about those nightmares? "

The voice made a soft noise like a sad sigh. _I'm sorry... I am so sorry..._

Quiet tears trickled down her face. No more conversation occurred between Violetwind and her voice. Without the voice saying any more there was no point in continuing. She had no will to fight it out either. Everything had gone downhill and she did not have the strength to resist.

...

For hours the purple femme sat there lost in a jumble of thoughts, memories and regrets; the voice leaving her alone in these things. It had nothing else to say and little comfort to give.

"Hey, Vi, you in here?" someone called, a head poking out of the wall.

Seeing it, Violetwind jumped in surprise, letting out a scream. "Ahhhh!" she fell over, her cuffed hands not able to help keep her upright as they tried to fly in different directions.

"Violetwind!" Smokescreen emerged from the wall, rushing over to her. "It's only me, you silly thing," he chuckled.

She took a few deep intakes of air, calming her beating spark. "You're- you're here?"

The mech grinned, turning off the phase shifter at his wrist. "You bet. You really need to stop getting into these situations. I can't keep rescuing you, you know." Using his blaster, he broke off her hand cuffs with a single shot.

Getting to her pedes, she smiled and rolled optics. Though shortly afterward, her smile faded and she looked down at the floor, "Hey, thanks for coming to find me, even after, ya know, what I said..."

"It's ok. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have been so harsh when you were only trying to help me," Smokescreen admitted. He held out a hand, "Friends?"

The femme smiled, taking his hand in a handshake, affirming with a nod. "Friends."

"Good, cause we gotta get outta here. I don't think Meg's too happy with me."

Turning the phaseshifter back on he took her by the hand and they started making their way about the _Nemesis,_ through its walls.

"What happened? What did you do?" she asked as they peaked out of a wall checking for Decepticons.

"Ah, not much," he chuckled, "Just gave Knock Out the slip and stole back the Omega Keys." He pointed at the two relics that he had attached to his back between his door wings.

"You got the Omega Keys! This is just great! Way to go, Smokescreen! I bet Megatron was mad about that," she replied excitedly. The situation, surprisingly, had an upside.

"Oh he was, I'm surprised you couldn't hear his roar from here," teased the mech.

Smirking in response she next asked, "So how'd you escape from Knock Out?"

"A bit of acting, bit of help from the phase shifter and I was out of my restraints," he bragged, "Only took a short struggle with Knock Out to get it off him and leave him in the wall."

"In a wall?" she did not believe her audio receptors.

"Ha ha yep, he was phasing through a wall when I removed it from him leaving him in a very awkward position," he snickered, picturing the vain red mech as he had left him.

The femme giggled. "I would have loved to have seen that." Turning back the conversation to more pressing things she questioned, "So how're we getting outta here? Ground bridging?"

"Nope, 'Cons have upgraded their console security and I'm not good enough to get in," the mech grimaced, "I've already checked. We'll need to find another way off."

Phasing through another wall the pair found themselves on top of the warship. The wind blew against their armour, enhancing the already dizzying experience of being up in the clouds.

"Um, Smoke, this doesn't look like the way off..." Violetwind glanced over at the edge uncomfortably.

A gravelly voice came from behind them, "Leaving so soon? We did not even begin to show you our hospitality." His 'cordial' tone become rough, "Return the keys or suffer a short trip to a long death."

"What are we going to do now?" Violetwind whispered desperately, looking to her companion for answers.

"Looks like our only way out is down..." the young mech glanced over the side of the ship.

Immediately she protested, "Are you kidding? We'll never survive the fall!"

Megatron chuckled with twisted pleasure, "A pity you are incapable of flight."

The femme glanced over at him, before looking back to Smokescreen hoping he would come up with something else. What she got though was not what she had expected... or wanted.

"Yeah, like I'm gonna let that stop me," grabbing Violetwind's hand, he jumped over the edge.

"Smokescreen!" she shrieked in alarm as they fell through the sky, "What are you doing?!"

"Hoping the others can play catch," he replied to her before calling into his comm. "Smokescreen to base, we could _really_ use a ground bridge."

Back up on the _Nemesis_ Megatron yelled at his soldiers, "Retrieve them! Quickly!"

Two of the vehicons next to him earned his wrath, none of the troopers making a move fast enough for the Decepticon leader, who leader promptly tossed them off the side of the ship. One fell for a short while before transforming into a jet, flying after the Autobots. The other was not so fortunate, this one transformed but his alternate mode was a car and unlike his companion, he continued to fall, letting out a scream as he went.

Megatron groaned at the incompetence of his soldiers. "Fliers!" he yelled, "Find me fliers!"

Vehicons with jet modes not wishing to earn their master's wrath quickly lept off the warship after the escapees. Jetting after them, they did their best to catch up, giving the Autobots short lead.

Violetwind glanced back to see troopers coming after them. Wanting to hurry them up she commed back to base. "Hey, any time now would be great!"

The first vehicon caught up to the pair and started firing, one of the shots skimming the femme's arm causing her to unexpectedly let go of her companion's hand. Winced in pain, she held the limb close to her chest but was more worried about falling away from Smokescreen, than the slight damage.

Thinking the same thing, the mech angled himself to fall closer to her. "Don't go flying off, we need to stick together for when Ratchet gets the ground bridge up."

Hmming and nodding her agreement, she reached out for him as he got closer, with her good arm. Stretching out for one another's grasp they were almost there as Ratchet commed, **::**Smokescreen, Violetwind, I'm opening up a ground bridge directly below you.**::**

Just as the mech had said, the familiar vortex opened up underneath the pair. It was poised perfectly ready to rescue them from the fall.

Unfortunately, a very furious mech would not allow them to escape. Megatron had come after them himself and crashed between them. Taking the brunt of the impact, Smokescreen was sent spinning in another direction, out of the line of the ground bridge. Violetwind, meanwhile, was only sent tumbling but was till headed towards the vortex.

"Smoke!"

He looked back over at her, his optics wide. "Vi!"

Before they could do anything she had shot through the ground bridge and right out into the Autobot base. With a loud clutter she tumbled onto the floor, rolling over an over with her limbs in a jumble. Slowly she came to a stop and as her head stopped spinning she let out a groan. Opening her optics to look about she wondered just when she had closed them, though it must have been somewhere amongst the dizzying tumble.

Optimus and Bumblebee quickly arrived at her side, the voiceless scout beeping in concern, _'Are you alright?'_

The femme nodded as they helped her to her pedes, holding onto her as her equilibrium senses aligned themselves once again.

Before she could say anything though, she heard Arcee cry out in disbelief, "You missed?!"

"Open another one! Fast!" Bulkhead yelled at the medic.

Unfortunately it was too late, Smokescreen's life signal they had been tracking on the screens, vanished at the ground. He would undoubtedly have made impact with it.

Ratchet closed his optics in despair. "No..."

Everyone was silent, Violetwind letting out a heavy vent of air. Smokescreen, gone? She had only just seen him, been right there with him. It couldn't be happening again, could it? The young mech dead...

Suddenly the communications clicked back on, out coming the mech's voice in a whisper, **::**Hey, Ratchet, I could still really use that ground bridge.**::**

The stillness back at base was broken as the bots gave a collective cheer. Ratchet grinned and promptly opened the bridge at his request. The rookie was always surprising them each time he managed to escape a dangerous situation with his life.

The purple femme relaxed and let out a sigh of relief, feeling as the rest of the Autobots did; glad to have not lost the rookie.

Within moments Smokescreen was walking into the base proudly. Removing the Omega Keys from where he had stashed them on his back, he waved them in front of the Autobots looking very smug. "Told ya I'd get them."

Stepping forward, he presented the two keys to Optimus, the leader taking them gratefully.

"Destiny," he declared with a wide grin.

Going over to him, Violetwind hit him over the back of the helm, "Please, just don't bring me with you next time 'destiny' comes calling and the 'Cons are involved."

Rubbing his helm, he grinned back at her, "Those 'Con's aren't nothing to worry about."

Arcee glared at him with her arms folded, not saying a word, before moving her hands to her hips. Suddenly her expression changed, and she smiled at the rookie, even complimenting him, "Nice work, kid."

"So where were you on the ship?" the purple femme was curious as to the reason behind their separation.

"Well, the 'Cons must have figured out that I was carrying the key," he tapped his chest proudly, "which Alpha trion knew I'd keep safe. At first I thought they were going to cut it out of me but then Knock out used my phase shifter instead. Megatron then went and used that patch to get inside my head." He was visibly disgusted, "You guys are right. Having that guy in your head, is _not_ fun."

Remembering her own experience, Violetwind shook her head. "It's not..."

"Sounds like the 'Con's are starting quite a trend for their prisoners using that cortical psychic patch," commented Arcee with a wry grin.

Counting on his fingers, Bumblebee brought the conversation back to the Omega Keys, _'There's your key and Megatron's key; but that's only two.'_

Shrugging his shoulders, the white mech admitted, "It was the only one in Megatron's Vault. I didn't see any more."

Optimus held up the two keys, "Then three keys are accounted for."

"And the fourth is still somewhere on the 'Con's warship," Bulkhead surmised.

"Unless Megatron never had it to begin with?" Arcee suggested otherwise. "It could be why Smoke didn't see it."

Letting the others discuss theories regarding the Omega Keys, Violetwind made her way over to their medic. "Um, Ratchet? I need to talk to you. Privately."

He looked at her, noting her seriousness. "Yes, of course," he nodded, directing her away from the group enough so they would not be over heard. Once out of range he waited for her to speak.

"Um, Ratchet? About my memory block and that voice... I need to know more about it. I've-" she was cut off by the main computers beeping as they received an incoming message. Glancing over at it the femme put on a smile, "It can wait I guess..."

"Are you sure?" he asked, receiving a nod in reply. The mech hmmmed quietly to himself, concerned about her query as he walked over to see about the message.

Reading it, his optics widened in surprise. "A high frequency signal, with an embedded message."

Bulkhead immediately recognised such a message format, having received one like it before. "Starscream..."

* * *

And more cliffhangers! But this one's probs not as bad as last time :P


	13. Chapter 13

I have to say, I decided I really liked this chapter when I went back and did the editing on it. Might be one of my favs. :D  
Hope you enjoy it too!

* * *

Chapter 13

A message had just come in from Starscream. The rogue Decpeticon was unlikely to contact them unless he required something, usually medical aid for himself. The snivelling mech would do anything to ensure his own well-being.

Standing at the console, Ratchet read out the communique, "'I have obtained something of interest to you which seems to be of no practical use to me.'"

"It's gotta be the Omega Key!" Bulkhead burst out.

Smokescreen threw his arms up in frustration. "He's the one who blind-sided me and Violet!"

The two wheeler huffed, "What else could he be referring to?"

"Ep ep," interrupted Ratchet, "There's more. 'Bring medical kit. I only ask for the surgical replacement of my T-cog in return.'"

The large green mech scoffed, "Pffugh, like we're gonna give Scream back his wings."

"Without the missing key, Cybertron will remain devoid of life," reminded their medic, "We need it."

"Hey broken record I know, but it could be a trick," commented Arcee, hands on her hips. It was not as if Starscream had never tried that before.

"It is possible that Starscream does not yet realise the significance of what he holds," suggested Optimus, knowing that if that were true there may still be hope.

"And we do know that he has been incapable of flight for some time," added Ratchet, considering the validity of the rogue's message.

Prime continued, "The stakes are too great for us not to consider Starscream's proposal. However, we will take precautions."

Violetwind hung back, contemplating the situation. It might be a while before she could speak to Ratchet now, but there was good news on the horizon. They were within reach of obtaining all four Omega Keys and reviving Cybertron. She knew she should be pleased at this but she was not. There were too many things wrong in her mind and she felt she could not get excited until they were sorted out.

Walking forward she went up to Optimus. "Sir, I'd like to come with you when you go to confront Starscream."

"Are you sure that is wise after recent events? You are still in need of recovery and require rest," the mech gazed upon her with concern.

"I'm fine. Nothing serious just a few dents. I _want_ to come," she told him firmly. However, the femme kept silent about her reason behind going; her desire for answers. The last time she had met the ex-Decepticon he had said something that interested her. He might possibly knew more about what was wrong with her and if he knew something, she desperately wanted to find out what it was.

Optimus conceded and nodded slowly. "You may come. Bulkhead, you will accompany us as well. Autobots, prepare to roll out." He then strode off to place their two new keys in the vault.

_Please don't go,_ pleaded her voice knowing that she wished to speak with Starscream.

_I'm going. If you're not going to give me answers then I'll find bots who will._

_No! Scrap. Stop it. You can't._

_Shut up! I don't want to hear any more from you! You- you're hiding something important and I will not stand for secrets any more! _

_..._

Not long afterwards four Autobots exited the ground bridge at the coordinates Starscream had supplied. Bulkhead took the lead, his blaster out as he warily looked around. Beside him Optimus had his own right arm blaster ready, glancing about in case the rogue was to try something. Violetwind and Ratchet followed behind them, the femme also with her weapons prepared, but hoping she would not need to use them.

The green mech was the first to spot something, pointing towards it, "There."

It was Starscream, sitting slumped over with his back to a rock.

Pointing his gun at the ex-Decepticon Prime spoke gruffly, "Starscream, show us the Omega Key."

However the mech did not answer, or even move for that matter, which confused the group. He usually started whining as soon as he noticed someone who would listen. It was not like him to be silent. They approached him cautiously, knowing it could, in all likelihood, be setting a trap.

Violetwind noticed the hole in his chest, scorch marks surrounding it. She wondered just how much medical attention he really needed. A hole in one's chest that size looked like it would hurt about as much as the one in her side had.

"Give it up, Scream," Bulkhead knocked the rogue's helm causing him to fall to the side. "Huh?"

Ratchet moved forward to examine the mech, "We're too late."

"He's dead?" the femme was not sure how she felt about that.

Grunting the medic responded, "He is. A T-cog won't help him now." Leaning down he took out his scanner, going over his body. After a moment a confused frown crossed his face.

"What is it?" Violetwind asked, wondering what was wrong, other than Starscream being dead.

"Starscream has been deceased for some time..." muttered Ratchet.

The large green mech looked confused, "How's that possible if he just sent us the message?"

Realisation shone from Optimus' optics as he came to understand. Starscream must have been able to process the speed enhancing red energon which he stole from them shortly after Smokescreen arrived on earth, but before Violetwind's arrival. The flightless seeker must have planned to use it.

"We have been deceived." Immediately he called into his comm link, "Arcee, close the ground bridge. Now!"

Coming through the vortex, they could sort of see that something was there. All of them prepared for battle, blasters at the ready; even Ratchet had his swords out.

"Autobot's maintain positions!" commanded their leader.

The shadowy figure was slowing down and appearing more solid in their sights. It moved boldly, straight through the four of them. Slowing further, they could tell it was the rogue seeker himself, his faster than normal speed wearing off.

Turning around after him, Optimus pointed a blaster right in his face.

Starscream looked shocked as he stared down the barrel of the weapon. He chuckled nervously, "The red energon wore off, didn't it?"

Seeing what the mech had in his arms, Ratchet's optics widened as he muttered in surprise, "He has the Omega Keys!"

Seeing his unfavourable predicament, the silver mech let out yell and fired his remaining missile at the Autobots. They dived out of the way and he used the distraction to make a break for it.

Sitting up, Violetwind narrowed her optics after the retreating mech. She was determined not to let him get away, not only for herself but also for the fate of Cybertron. He could not be allowed to escape with those keys.

The others were already charging after the ex-decepticon, so she transformed into her vehicle mode and sped after them. While Optimus and Bulkhead fired upon Starscream she tore right by, speeding up behind him.

_No, don't do this._

_Shut up, you don't control me! _

Seconds after she thought this, she rammed into the rogue sending him flying over a small cliff. Not having realised it was there, Violetwind found herself falling over the edge after him.

_I told you..._

_Not now._ Transforming mid air, she landed on her pedes.

Starscream had not been so lucky; he was picking himself up and quickly trying to gather the relics as well as fumbling with another device. Seeing her, he muttered to himself desperately, "Come on!"

The femme was running towards him when a ground bridge opened up near the seeker. Grinning from relief he turned to give her sly smile and a wave. "Goodbye Autobot."

Her spark tightened but she was not about to give up yet. Transforming into her alt-mode once again she poured on the power, engine roaring as she put the pedal to the metal once again.

Upon seeing her catching up, Starscream shrieked and dashed into his ground bridge. Right on his heels, Violetwind leapt in after him.

On the other side the two raced out into a room on the crashed Decepticon ship Starscream had been using since going rogue. There the mech was frantically trying to figure out how to get out of this mess, while the femme was seeking the keys and answers to her plethora of questions.

Returning to robot mode she drew out her swords. "Starscream, hand over the Omega Keys. I can't let you have them."

Facing her, he clung to the keys, pressing them against his chest. "Well I'm not giving them to you." With narrowed optics he sent her a glare, the low light only enhancing the chilling effect. "You're all alone and you don't have the guts to make me. I'm going use these and gain a position back under Megatron's command, cause you were right. It is lonely out here on my own. And it would mean I don't have to keep scrounging for energon like a common pest!"

The femme winced at this news, feeling guilty Without meaning to she may have caused this incident due to their conversation back at the canyon. This was certainly not what she had been intending when she was talking to him though.

Staring at the mech, she contemplated her next move, because honestly, she did not have a plan. Catching him had been her main goal, anything after that had not really been considered.

Slowly she took in air, before replying, "I may not be as you remember me, Starscream but I do know how to fight and even if I don't want to, I will if I have to. I can't let you take those back to Megatron." She pointed a blade in his direction, "So hand them over."

The mech smirked. "Are you sure, 'Violetwind?'" He said her slowly and deliberately. "You know I believe I have come to a conclusion about you."

"Yeah? What is it?" she asked curiously, falling for his distraction.

"I can hardly believe she managed to do it... Such a shame the problem couldn't have been cracked sooner..."

"What? What is it?!" she cried out frantically, dropping her weapons and taking a step closer. A tight feeling clenched her very spark, stirring with the desire for truth. She had to know, she just had to.

The rogue chuckled. Clearly she did not know and this only aroused his amusement all the more. "Just tell me one thing, Violetwind. What's it like having someone else-"

The femme did not get to hear the rest, her own scream of pain echoing through the grounded spacecraft. A terrible pain shot through her helm. The femme doubled over from the anguish, clutching at her helm wishing, praying, for it to stop.

Not one to waste an opportunity, Starscream put down the keys and opened up a ground bridge beside the femme. Stepping up beside her, he yelled over her screams, "I guess I'll save it for another time. You look busy. Let's not have you come visit again shall we."

Reaching over, the silver seeker shoved her through the vortex, cackling as he did so.

There was little she could do in response, the pain was too overwhelming to her senses. Her thoughts were consumed with the torment her helm was giving her, rendering her useless.

Falling out of the ground bridge she lay there for a few moments as the pain resided. Rolling over onto her back she looked up at the starry sky, ignoring the discomfort in her door wings. The red soil she lay on and shrub-land surrounding her escaped her notice. She did not care for anything around her, any indication where in the world she was or even about getting back to base. Instead she began to cry. Tears rolled down her metal cheeks and onto the ground.

The physical pain in her helm had disappeared but it had been replaced by the pain of failure. The hurt of still not knowing. And the guilt of having caused Starscream to want to do something that would allow him to rejoin the Decepticons. Plus the loss of the Omega Keys.

She did not know how long she lay there. It could not have been more that a few minutes but to her it felt like hours. The glowing blue-green of a ground bridge opened up near her but she did not bother to look over at it. It did not matter to her who came out, whether they were Decepticon or Autobot.

However, luckily it was the Autobots who stepped out. They were ready for battle, weapons at the ready. The five bots quickly assessed the situation and saw that the coast was clear, Violetwind being the only being around. Though considering her state of being they were confused and concerned, rushing over.

"Vi, are you alright?" asked Smokescreen with worry in his voice.

"I'm fine," she muttered grumpily as she sat up. "I wasn't able to get the keys back either."

"We will find a way to regain possession of the Omega Keys. The life of our fellow Autobot is not so easy to replace," Optimus told her, his optics filled with compassion.

"You're not trying to turn into Smokescreen, running off on your own are you?" grinned Arcee her arms folded.

Not in the mood for jokes, the purple femme sent her a dark glare, surprising the two wheeler, the rest of the bots sharing a concerned glance of surprise.

"Is there something wrong, Violetwind?" asked their leader.

"I'm fine," she replied curtly.

"Hey, let's get you back to base," suggested Smokescreen, starting to help her to her pedes.

Shaking off his grip, she growled, "I don't need help," and got up on her own.

Arcee and Optimus shared a worried glance, while the rookie stared at her with wide optics, at her harsh brush off. It was not like her.

Together they walked back through the ground bridge. As soon as they entered to base, Optimus ordered Violetwind to the medical bay, worried she might try to avoid it if it was just a suggestion. Quietly he asked Bulkhead to make sure she stayed there.

The purple femme did as he asked, but shot Bulkhead a harsh glance as he followed along after her.

Before Ratchet could go and fix her up, their leader took him aside. "Old friend, make sure Violetwind is mentally well as well as physically, when you see to her. She was not her usual self when we met up with her." Optimus glanced in the direction of the medical bay, "I fear something has affected her deeply."

Ratchet nodded, "I'll do that, Optimus."

...

Violetwind was laying down on the berth as Ratchet worked on fixing her dents. The air was tense, neither bot saying a word; one not wanting to talk, the other not sure what to say.

As he worked, the mech tried to figure out what was wrong with her. She had been acting strangely since returning from the warship. It made him wonder what had occurred there and what had caused her to be so persistent in her pursuit of Starscream. Something very strange was going on.

Not sure what else to say he tried to prompt her with what she wanted to talk to him about earlier. "There was something you wished to discuss, wasn't there?"

The purple femme avoided his gaze simply replying, "No."

The medic grunted. "That's a lie."

"No. There's nothing I want to say. To anyone!" she insisted firmly.

Ratchet stopped his repair work, absolutely certain something was wrong now. "You're hiding something. What is it?" he questioned firmly, not ready to take no for an answer. He'd dealt with some of the feistiest, most stubborn bots during the war, handling one femme would be easy.

"I don't want to talk about it," she replied adamantly. To emphasise this she rolled onto her side so her back was to him.

Not about to stand for this, Ratchet yanked on her door wing eliciting a squeal of pain from the femme as he forced her onto her back again. Huffing angrily he stared right into her optics. "Don't think you're going to leave this berth without explaining yourself!"

Violetwind huffed, still avoiding his gaze.

"Did those Decepticons do something to you? Violetwind, I need to know! I can't help you if you don't tell me!" He got up in her face, staring into her optics.

Taking a shaky intake of air, soft tears began to flow from her optics. "No, it wasn't them..."

"Then what?" he asked, his tone much more gentle.

She closed her optics to sob for a moment before she opened them, looking up at the medic. "I need to know... Who I am..."

Her answer was not what he was expecting, causing his mouth to open and close a few times as he tried to process it. Eventually he uttered, "You're Violetwind. An Autobot and part Team Prime. And one femme, who has surprising, been almost as much trouble as Miko."

"No, Ratchet... I mean... Ratchet, something's wrong with me, with my head... with that voice..." She replied through her tears, staring at her hands as she played with her fingers.

"Ah..." he realised where some of her anxiety was coming from. Leaning back he glanced over at his monitors, wondering if he should tell her anything. It was not like he could explain what he had found himself, nothing like this had ever existed as far as he knew. He did not even understand what had caused it. Venting heavily he looked down at the troubled femme. "Listen... I'm sure there's nothing to worry about," he did his best to reassure her, "We'll work through this."

"Starscream... I thought he knew something- does know something... About my voice... I... I didn't get to finish talking to him because of a terrible ache in my helm and then he kicked me out..." Violetwind admitted, reaching a hand up to wipe the lubricant from her face.

Looking over her thoughtfully he fetched his scanner. "I'll take another look over your processor to check and compare it with the previous scans later."

Finishing that task he got back to repairing her dents, neither of them talking again, each with their minds revolving around Violetwind's mysterious voice and its purpose there.


	14. Chapter 14

Bit of a filler chapter, took a bit of a break from advancing the storyline to focus on the characters. It's going to get a bit crazy soon :P  
Also, I apologise for it being a day late (if anyone noticed^^) I spent the Saturday up in Sydney :)

* * *

Chapter 14

The next day Violetwind awoke late from recharge, finally getting up after midday. Ratchet had worked into the night to repair her, meaning she had not been able to get the rest she needed. Not only that but the stress from the previous day's events had also played a large part of her needing the extra down time.

Peaking open her optics for a moment, she promptly closed them once again and let out a groan. Living was too hard right then, sleeping was much better. As much as she wanted to though she could not stay there. It was possibly already late enough as it was and she did not wish to worry anyone and cause them to ask questions; questions which she did not truly have the answers to.

Letting out a deep sigh she rose from her berth and headed out to see what was going on that day. She entered the main hub where the Autobots had congregated, talking with their human companions. From what she gathered, they had finally told them about their quest to restore Cybertron and it sounded like it was being met with mixed results.

Sitting on Bulkhead's shoulder, Miko was already making plans, "You know I might not be the first human on Cybertron but I can still be the first human exchange student."

On the other hand, Jack was a little hurt, "Why didn't you tell us about the Omega Keys before?"

"You probably didn't notice but things have been a little hectic around here lately," replied Arcee a matter-of-factly.

"They probably didn't want to worry you," added Violetwind, taking a seat on one of the crates nearby. She absently rubbed at her side where one of the larger dents had been, still feeling a little stiff.

Raf looked over at his partner from where he stood on a crate at Bumblebee's eye level, "So you guys could really be going home soon, huh?"

His companion beeped, _'That's right.' _

"Don't worry, Raf, you'll come visit. Once we get our place set up he can bunk with us, right Bulk?" the girl stated excitedly, glancing over at her partner.

"Uh, Miko..." the green mech muttered, not sure about her future plans.

"You are taking me with you, right?" she looked over at him pleadingly.

The medic huffed and broke in, "Aren't we getting ahead of ourselves here? Not only do we lack any actual method of reaching Cybertron but Starscream now controls the sole means of our planet's restoration."

"As far as we know..." Optimus muttered, not at all happy with the situation.

Smokescreen added in his thoughts, "You think Starscream rejoined the 'Cons?"

Violetwind's optics widened as she realised that she had neglected to tell them about Starscream. She opened her mouth to deliver the news but before she could get anything out Arcee spoke first.

"He might have used the Omega Key's to buy back Megatron's favour."

"He actu-" the femme was cut off again, no one having noticed that she had something to say.

"Hmph, without first trying to sell them to the highest bidder?" Ratchet grunted, unhappily.

The femme tried again, "But he-"

"Ack, it wouldn't surprise me if he had the nerve to contact us and-" the medic himself was cut off by beeps coming from their computer indicating an incoming message.

"Ok, that's weird," the green mech looked over at the screens with a raised optic ridge.

On his shoulder Miko added, "Yeah just a little."

"Is it Starscream?" asked Arcee as they all moved a little close to see what the message was.

The medic frowned, "No. It is Dreadwing. And he wants to meet."

"What would that 'Con want," Bulkhead questioned, suspiciously.

"I can't imagine it would be anything good," the blue femme smirked.

"Um, hey guys?" Violetwind called out, trying to gain their attention.

_'Are we going to go?'_ wondered the scout.

Smokescreen frowned, not approving of the idea of going, "And be tricked again?"

Their leader silenced them with a wave of his hand. "Dreadwing may desire to meet based on pure intentions."

"Optimus, after what happened the last time we met a 'Con, I don't think we can trust him," the blue femme stated firmly.

"About Starscream..." Violetwind tried again but no one was listening, too busy with their conversation to notice the quiet femme.

"What could Dreadwing offer us anyway?" the rookie rolled his optics.

"Guys!" she shouted, all heads turning in her direction. Seeing all eyes and optics on her, her faceplates flushed, "Um..."

"What is it, Violetwind?" Optimus asked calmly, his soft deep voice giving her confidence.

Taking a slow intake of air she told them what she knew, "I- when I went after Starscream, he- well, he mentioned wanting to use the keys so that Megatron would take him back..."

"That fraggin' piece of scrap," Arcee muttered with distaste.

"Someone needs to beat that little wimp into a scrap pile!" shouted Miko, an angry scowl on her face.

Jack looked over at the the red and blue mech. "What are you going to do, Optimus?"

"First, we will see to Dreadwing. Then we shall proceed from there. But we must find a way to stop Megatron," the leader replied. "Autobots, prepare to roll out."

Getting up, Violetwind went over to the tall mech. "Optimus, would it be alright if I stayed behind? I don't think I'm ready for going with you today."

He nodded in understanding as well as acknowledgement. "You may. How about you escort our young human friends home?"

"Aww, Optimus. Can't we come with?" whined Miko, shoulders sagging.

Glancing over her way, he gave her an unimpressed look. "No. It holds the possibility of being dangerous," he told her firmly. "Violetwind will drive you home."

"Fine..." she huffed.

"I've got homework to do anyway," admitted Jack, heading down the walkway stairs.

Bumblebee took Raf in his palm, lowering the boy carefully to the floor. _'See you tomorrow, Raf.'_

"Bye, Bee," the twelve year old waved to his yellow friend.

"So I guess we're going now then?" Miko muttered distastefully. No one paid her much heed though, Bulkhead simply helping her to the floor.

"You'll have to give me directions to your houses," the purple femme told the three humans that had gathered at her pedes. "I've only ever been to Jack's place."

"Don't worry we'll get you there," assured Jack, earning a smile from her.

Transforming, the femme opened her doors for them to hop in. Jack naturally slipped behind the drivers seat, Miko taking the passenger's side, leaving the back-seat for Raf.

They called out goodbyes and waved as they departed, Violetwind even honking her horn in farewell.

Getting out onto the highway back to town, the purple femme asked, "So who's going home first?"

"I can be dropped off last, if you guys want to hurry home," offered the teenaged boy.

"Yeah, I can be first then. Hey! Think we could rev it up a bit and get some speed on before we get to town? It's not like there's anyone around," Miko practically bounced in her seat.

"Miko..." Jack admonished her.

"I don't know. I don't think we should..." The femme replied, hesitant to do something that might attract any attention to them.

"Please, come on just for a little bit?"

The boy sighed. It was terrible trying to argue with her. "What do you say, Violet?"

She was really on the fence about it, a little afraid of getting into trouble but finally agreed. "Ok. But we'd better not get caught and don't tell the others."

"Our secret," the girl agreed, with a wink. "Now let's go!"

Revving her engine noisily, Violetwind tore off down the road at top speed.

"Woohoo!" Miko threw her arms up as she yelled.

Holding tight to the steering wheel, Jack grinned widely. Like Miko the speed fuelled his adrenaline and he couldn't help but enjoy the fast pace.

The only occupant not as thrilled with the speed was Raf. The younger boy just wished the teenaged girl did not crave excitement quite so much. It did usually end up with them in trouble after all.

It was not long before they reached the town and had to slow to the posted speed. They dropped Miko back at her host parent's place and said their goodbyes. Driving away Jack turned to the back-seat passenger, "So Raf, off to your place next?"

"Um, actually, your house is closer. I don't mind going last," the boy told him.

"Ok then, back home, Violet."

"Of course. Is there a particular route you'd like to take?" she replied good naturedly. The drive had put her in a good mood and quite happy to take a longer route if they wished to hang out more.

Jack smiled but shook his head, "No, just home thanks. I really do need to get some work done. I don't want to fail my subjects, Mom might ground me."

"Ok then. Hope you can get finished and do well." She was a little disappointed but understood.

A short while later they rolled up to the Darby house. Stepping out, Jack made sure she had the instructions to Raf's place.

"Don't worry, I've got it," she told him.

"Good," he smiled and waved at the vehicle's final passenger. "See ya Raf!"

"Bye," called out the occupant, smiling and waving back.

Stepping away, Jack tapped the hood of the car lightly before going inside.

Driving off again, Violetwind headed for her final destination. "So, Raf, um, what do you like to do?" The femme tried to make conversation with the boy.

"I'm interested in computers."

"That's cool."

Silence reigned over them, neither one saying anything more. This went on for a while, before Rafael brought up what was on his mind.

"Do you really think you'll be going back to Cybertron soon?"

"Yeah, I guess we will," she replied, not certain about it herself, "I mean, we have to get the keys back first but yeah it does seem like it." The femme was quiet a few moments before speaking again, sympathy in her voice, "You're going to miss him aren't you?"

The boy nodded, "Bee's always been around to listen to me. I don't really want him to leave..."

"I kinda know how you feel... You don't want things to change."

"I just wish that winning didn't mean loosing my friend..."

"I understand," Violetwind muttered, "Like, I can't even fathom leaving Earth. It's all I've ever known. I don't have any memory of Cybertron so it'll be like going somewhere foreign..."

"Maybe going back home with jog your memories," Raf suggested hopefully.

The femme was unconvinced. "Maybe... but I'm not so sure they can be. I don't- I don't think it's as simple as that..."

Her passenger's face screwed up in a look of confusion."How so?"

"Because of that voice in my head," she explained, "I don't know what it is exactly but there is something very strange about it. Other than the fact I'm hearing a voice, of course."

"And Ratchet doesn't know what to do about it?"

"If he does, he hasn't said anything. So I guess not."

"He's a good doctor. I'm sure he'll be able to work something out."

"You're right, I'm sure he will. I trust him."

Raf smiled. "If you don't want to go back to Cybertron, maybe you could stay on Earth? I'm sure Agent Fowler could let you stay on at the base. It would be kind of nice for one of you guys to stay around."

The femme would have smiled at the kind thought if she had been in robot mode but it remained hidden, instead her gratitude came through her voice, "I think I'll take that into consideration. I do like it here on Earth. I feel at home here."

They chatted a little while longer and Violetwind finally rolled up in front of the young human's house. Parking at the curb she said her goodbye. "See you around, Raf. Um, good luck with school and all that. And... Thanks, for well, just being willing to talk and listen."

The boy grinned as he slid out of the vehicle. "You're welcome. You're a good listener too. I hope we'll be able to hang out again sometime."

"I hope so too," she replied warmly.

"Bye, Violet!" Raf called out as he walked up to his house.

The purple femme waited until he had gone inside before driving off. She felt a warmth in her spark at having gotten to know the youngest human better. She did not wish to think about what it would be like leaving their human friends behind when the Autobots returned to their home world. It was just too saddening.

~oOo~

Arriving back at base she found Team Prime gathered around, Optimus carrying a huge hammer over his shoulder. Returning to robot mode she walked over, Smokescreen waving at her to join him.

"What is that? Did you get it off Dreadwing?" she questioned, looking over at the intimidating object. It was taller than she was!

The rookie was quick to get in, "It's no Star Saber but I bet it can shatter Megatron's blade and pound some dents into that ugly mug of his!"

"It's not that kind of hammer," Arcee stated bluntly before answering Violetwinds's question. "It's the forge of Solus Prime."

"That was why the 'Con wanted to meet. He just handed it over," Bulkhead added in bewilderment, gesturing to the forge.

Though it was a little confusing, it was not what her thoughts revolved around. The name rung a bell with her mind and she thought for a moment trying to place where she had heard it. Then it came to her, her optics lighting up as she asked, "Is that the thing Megatron used to make his Dark Star thing? The one that..." Her voice trailed off as she remembered that day, the one when they had thought Smokescreen had died and Optimus had fought with the Decepticon leader. It was also the day they recovered the first of the Omega Keys.

"It is," Prime answered.

"A more appropriate use of the forge would be to replicate the Omega Keys," Ratchet countered the rookie's idea to use it as a weapon.

Optimus replied solemnly, "Even with such power, their reconstruction would require a level of expertise I do not posses."

The blue femme vented, "I guess we'd better hope that Megatron doesn't destroy the keys to prevent anyone from returning home."

"You thing he'd do that?" Violetwind looked over at her with wide optics.

"Megatron may be evil but I believe he will use the keys for their intended purpose," returned Optimus as he removed the forge from his shoulder, resting it on the ground and leaning on its handle.

"Then I say let him keep 'em and let him do the work for us." All the bots looked over at the green mech with surprise and horror for his suggestion. He held out his hands innocently and tried to placate them, "Well, I mean what difference does it make who restores Cybertron?"

Their leader explained why they could not do possibly allow it. "If Megatron revives Cybertron, he will no doubt use it to his _political_ advantage."

"He? Wha- it- wh- ya lost me," stuttered Bulkhead, tilting his head in confusion.

"In all likelihood, the leader of the Decepticons will portray himself as our planet's saviour and brand all Autobots as war criminals."

Arcee rolled her optics, "The grand deception continues."

"And Megatron's so called 'achievement' could influence Cybertron for eons to come. Poisoning the sparks and minds of its returning citizens. Hardly the ideal way to begin a new age," muttered the medic angrily.

_Slag that tyrant. _

"But there is hope, for while Megatron may have the keys, he has yet to discoverthe existence of the Omega Lock itself."

Everyone looked over at their leader in confusion. The Omga Lock was news to them. Not even they had know of the existence of the Omega Lock before then and did not understand its significance.

"Omega Lock?" repeated Bulkhead.

"Wait, now you lost me..." the blue femme looked up at Optimus for an explanation.

"It is that which the four relics were designed to activate." The mech became very serious as he continued, "We must locate the device before Megatron does and secure it, until we can recover the keys."

"But there are no more Iacon entries to decode. This lock could be anywhere on Earth!" Ratchet waved an arm about in irritation.

"Actually..." Prime stated calmly, "It is on Cybertron."

Shock and surprise shone from all the Autobot's faces. "What?!" they all cried out in unison.

The orange and white medic questioned, "How do you know?"

Optimus lifted the forge onto his shoulder, talking as he walked toward the ground bridge. "Alpha Trion revealed its location to me during the message conveyed to me by the Star Saber."

"And you didn't think, to tell us?" The medic's optics shone with a look of hurt and confusion as to why Optimus had not told them this before.

The mech stopped briefly to glance back, "Alpha Trion did not wish it so." He then continued to the edge of ground bridge where he placed the forge on the ground. "With the forge of Solus Prime we now posses the means of reaching Cybertron." Climbing down into the lower level of the ground bridge he continued, "I must work quickly as our tactical advantage over Megatron will not last long." He was going to create a space bridge.

The bots let him get on with his work, the sound of hammering echoing through the base. Ratchet stalked away to do whatever it was the medic did, while the others gathered over away from where their leader was using the forge.

Arcee glanced over at the red and blue mech, "Is it my imagination or has Optimus been acting differently since that message from Alpha Trion?"

The yellow scout beeped in agreement. _'Something does seem a little odd.'_

"Err, he has been keeping things from us," Bulkhead looked gloomy and a little unsure of things.

"Even Ratchet's been out of the loop," the blue femme looked thoughtful, glancing over at the medic.

Violetwind looked over at the other bots. "I take it, they don't usually keep things from one another?"

Bumblebee shook his head whirring adamantly. _'He's usually very open, especially with Ratchet seeing as they've been friends so long.'_

The large green mech was not too pleased either. "And give me one good reason wouldn't trust his own team mates? Why he couldn't have told us about the Omega Lock?"

"Because if he had, Megatron would have pulled it out of my head with his patch," Smokescreen told them plainly. "Then he'd know just as much as we do."

The purple femme pointed at him, "Yep, that's an excellent reason."

Bulkhead grunted not satisfied. "Like it matters. The 'Cons are holding all the keys anyway..."

"We'll get them back," Violetwind tried to bring up their hopes up a little, despite being doubtful herself.

Grunting again the green mech wandered off down the hall, the femme watching him go with a touch of sadness in her optics.

"Ah, don't worry. I'm sure Bulk will be feeling more like himself after a bit of down time," the rookie grinned. "How about we go do a bit of sparring? If we're going to get those keys back, I bet we'll be doing a bit of fighting."

"Maybe later, Smoke. I think I'm just going to go back to bed. It sounds like tomorrow might be a big day and I, for one, don't want to be without recharge," the purple femme turned him down.

He whined back, "But you, like, were in recharge for most of today."

_'You feeling alright?'_ whirred Bumblebee with concern.

She smiled, "Yeah, I'm fine, Bee." Glancing at Smokescreen she teased, "And that's cause I was up with Ratchet fixing the dents I got falling through a ground bridge which you missed."

"Hey, you know that wasn't my fault. Aren't you at least glad I didn't hit the ground?"

"Don't say it like that. Of course I'm glad you didn't end up like those vehicons," she frowned at the mech. "Now if you'll excuse me I'm gonna head off to my room now."

"Night then," Arcee waved, before turning to the rookie, challenging him, "Come on, Smoke, I'll take you on in a spar if you think you can take me."

"Always ready to beat you, Arcee," he accepted confidently. "See ya, Vi! How about you, Bee? You gonna come too?"

The scout nodded, _'I'll take on the winner!'_

Smiling, the femme waved goodbye and wandered down the hall, their voices fading as she got further away. The smile slowly slipped off her face when she got some distance between them, her thoughts heavy with doubt and uncertainty.

_Even if we restore Cybertron, I'll still have that voice in my head... What then? Can it be cured? Will I ever be normal again? _

* * *

*melts* I love the kids but I don't think I'm all that great at portraying them...


	15. Chapter 15

Hi everyone! And we're back with another chapter at the appointed time. Have to say, it's useful for me to have the time between initially writing the chapters and they're being posted. Gives me time to revise or even add in stuff like I did with this one, cause I later decided I didn't want to just mention the characters in the dream, but wanted to give them a little personality too. :D

Have fun!

* * *

Chapter 15

_Venting. Scraping of metal. Grunts. Blaster shots. Cries of pain. _

_War._

_War was going on around the purple femme, battles of Autobots against Decepticons. Energon was spilt. Flowing freely and covering the metal ground, staining it blue. She was there and yet felt disconnected from it, like she was watching a movie. _

"_Violetwind!" a pink femme called out from her left. "Did you hear me? I called for a retreat!" _

_She heard herself reply, "But we have to maintain our position! They're counting on us! If we leave now, they might not survive!" _

"_And if we don't move now we won't survive to help them later! Get moving, we'll regroup and try again!" the femme yelled. _

_With a huff she complied, "Yes, ma'am." _

_They retreated, ducking enemy fire to regroup with a group of other femmes, who Violetwind recognised from her previous dream, though she still could not recall their names. _

_"Gals, we've got to help that transport get through. It's carrying energon, which you all know, we desperately need," the pink femme spoke to the others in a leader-like fashion. _

_"So then come on, let's get out there. We can't let everyone down," replied the blue femme. _

_The rest chorused their agreement, and let out a cheer. _

_Violetwind, however, was more sombre. "Are you sure about this? We sure as slag don't have the numbers for this." _

"_Just chill, Vi, we can handle it," a light green femme shot her a smile. _

"_Just stay in formation and look out for each other," a bulkier orange and red femme told her. _

_A silver seeker femme with blue highlights rested a hand on her shoulder. "You're job's not even that hard. 'Least you get cover. I'll be up there," she nodded to the skies where they could see Autobots and Decepticon fliers darting and weaving about each other. _

_The purple femme grunted. "Just don't get shot down." _

"_Are we sure she doesn't care the tiniest bit?" teased the older, darker green femme. _

"_Give it a rest. Let's get to it," grumbled Violetwind, although a light smile played on her face. _

"_She's right we've got a job to complete. Roll out!" the pink one ordered. _

_The bots all nodded, heading off, ready to rejoin the battle. _

_Before she could find herself fighting again, Violetwind's dream faded, or at least this scene did. It morphed into something else and she found herself alone on a spaceship. The vessel was small and fairly plain. She was just sitting, watching the monitors with an extremely uninterested expression. _

_Just before she could fall into recharge out of boredom, they sprang to life, screaming out beeps and jolting her upright. The sensors were detecting a Decepticon presence on a nearby inhabited planet. The femme gasped, knowing about the complete disrespect they had for local lifeforms. Without even considering how dangerous it might be to herself going in alone, she headed straight for the planet. _

_Everything was going fine until, as luck would have it, one of the engines blew out. "You slagging piece of Decepticon junk!" she screamed hitting the ships dashboard angrily with her fists. "I knew I should have cleaned out the engines while back on Aleneex," she muttered, grabbing the manual controls to do her best to survive the inevitable crash. She was going down and going down hard. _

_"Ahhhhh!" The purple femme cried as the ground loomed ever closer, closing her optics in anticipation of the crash landing. _

~oOo~

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Violetwind screamed, immediately sitting up as she jolted awake.

_'Violet, Violet, calm down. Calm down,'_ a beeping yellow mech, rested a hand on her shoulder.

Venting heavily she looked up into his bright blue optics, trying to calm herself. "Bee..." she panted. Swinging her legs over the side of the berth, she rubbed her hands over her optics.

_'Are you alright? I just came to tell you that Optimus had finished upgrading the ground bridge but you were crying out in your sleep,'_ chirped the mech.

"I- I think so... Just another... another nightmare..." she told him, trying to shake off the odd feeling that came with her dream. Lifting her head she looked at him questioningly, "We now have a space bridge?"

He nodded, his voice full of concern, _'You ready to leave or do you need a little while to recover?'_

Trying to smile, she reassured him, "No, I'm ok. It's just a dream... or... something... Anyway it doesn't matter now. Let's go check out the space bridge."

Bumblebee whirred his agreement and they headed out to the main room.

"It's amazing what that forge has done," Arcee commented as the femme and mech entered the room.

The orange and white medic muttered in awe. "Yet another astonishing convergence of magic and science, courtesy of the ancients."

"And our leader," added Smokescreen, proudly looking upon the mech.

Bulkhead grinned, "It's hard to believe. A few swings of that hammer, and bam!"

"Our ground bridge becomes a space bridge," the blue femme finished for him.

Violetwind glanced over at the new space bridge, "So we'll be able to get to Cybertron with this?"

"Most certainly will," the green mech replied cheerily.

_'This is great we can go secure the Omega Lock now and stop Megatron from getting there!'_ chirped Bumblebee excitedly.

Their conversation was interrupted by something on the monitors, the computer letting out a series of beeps.

Ratchet was quick to investigate what was wrong. "Our senses are detecting a massive energon burst occurring outside Earth's atmosphere. A surge of that kind could only mean one thing; activation of another space bridge..."

Stepping forward, their leader spoke gravely, "Megatron has discovered that the Omega Lock is on Cybertron."

The medic's face looked grim, "Then it appears we have lost our advantage."

"But," Optimus spoke with hope, "with Megatron unaware that we now posses the means of interstellar travel, the element of surprise remains in our favour. We must embark on this mission with every resource at our disposal. Autobots, retrieve the weapons from our vaults."

With nods of acknowledgement, they moved off to collect the devices, while Violetwind hung back, not really sure what to do with herself. So she just waited until the others returned; objects in hand. Looking over them, she wondered what each of them did. About to ask, she was stopped by her voice piping up.

_Oh hey! The Immobilizer, I made that!_

"I-I made that..." she muttered in surprise, staring at the device in Bulkhead's hands. "I made a weapon!" The femme squeaked in horror.

Overhearing her, the green mech glanced down at the weapon, before looking back at her. "You made the Immobilizer?"

"Um, apparently... Well, so says my voice," she replied warily.

"Here," he offered her the weapon, "I don't need it. I can do just fine without it."

"But- I- uh, I..." the femme tried to reply.

Bulkhead chuckled, "No need to be shy. Here," he placed the device in her hands, "And just be careful out there. We'll probably be getting into a bad fight out there. Keep your wits about you and you'll be fine."

The mech then walked off, leaving her holding the Immobolizer. Violetwind just stared at it for a moment before quietly whispering, "So how do I work it?"

_It's not hard, just point, shoot and your enemies are frozen where they stand. Pretty handy indeed. _

_Well at least you're talking to me again._ She thought to herself, not having heard from the voice since she tried to get information from Starscream.

"Come on, Vi, you aren't going to stand there all day, are you?" Smokescreen called out, waving her over.

"Uh, no," turning around she quickly joined the group as they readied themselves to head out through their upgraded ground bridge.

Though before they left, as they waited for Optimus, they bots realised they could hear banging echoing through the halls.

"What's he forging now?" questioned the large green mech, causing everyone to look towards the noise.

After a few more clangs of metal, the sound stopped and Optimus Prime emerged holding a large weapon. The Star Saber had been repaired. Everyone's optics fell immediately on the sword, mixtures of feelings going through them; joy and amazement the predominant ones. Violetwind felt a sense of awe that the magnificent weapon was now whole again; especially after having seen it destroyed with her own optics. The battle fields were level once again.

"Megatron must be stopped, no matter the cost!" declared the Autobot leader firmly. Placing the saber onto the holder on his back, he transformed, leading them through the space bridge.

~oOo~

Exiting the other side of the vortex, the purple femme could not withhold a gasp. All around them were ruined rusty metallic buildings, some so tall that even Optimus was tiny by comparison. The scarring of war was clearly seen over the landscape as they drove through it. She was both amazed and horrified as she took everything in. The world felt so foreign...

_Cybertron..._ The voice muttered into her thoughts sadly. _It used to be quite beautiful..._

Optimus transformed and came to a stop, the rest of them following suit. The leader felt a deep pang of sadness in his spark at being on their dead planet once again. To see it again reminded him of how long the war had been going on and that his desire for peace had still not yet come to pass. The Autobots and Decepticons just could not see optic to optic.

"We must stop Megatron," Optimus muttered quietly to himself, his head down and optics closed.

Feeling something touch his arm, the mech looked down to see Violetwind staring back up at him with sad, caring optics, yet a soft smile on her face. "I believe in you, Optimus."

A small smile lifted his face. "Thank you, Violetwind," he replied softly, her words helping ease the pain in his spark.

They moved off again, keeping their senses alert. Then in the quiet their audios caught the sound of many steps: the sound of an army.

Slowly and quietly they drew closer, taking a good vantage point where they could look down upon their enemies without being noticed. Down below Megatron and his vehicon troopers were searching for the Omega Lock's location.

Keeping his voice down, Optimus started organising them for the fight and retrieval of the keys. "The Decepticons are unaware of our presence; our element of surprise still remains. Let us use that to our advantage. Autobots, this is one fight we cannot afford to lose. "

Quickly the Prime explained the details of his plan to the team. "Smokescreen, you will go in first, attacking from the rear."

"You got it, Optimus. Can't wait to see the looks on those 'Cons faces when I show up out of nowhere!" the rookie replied enthusiastically with a wide grin.

"Bumblebee, you will attack from the right with Violetwind. I would like you two to remain together. Violetwind does not posses the battle experience to be left alone."

The scout nodded and whirred, _'Of course, Optimus.' _He looked over at the femme, _'You can count on me, I won't let anything happen to you.'_

"Thanks, Bee," she smiled, appreciating his confidence and glad she was not going to be alone.

"Bulkhead, Arcee," the red and blue bot continued, "you will start off from the left. We will then gather, attacking from down there," he turned to point towards where he wished them to be in the street below, "I will deal with Megatron myself while you reclaim the Omega Keys. Once they are in our possession retreat. Do not remain to fight. As we make our retreat, Smokescreen, that is when you are to use the spark extractor."

"What then Optimus?" Arcee questioned.

"Then, we shall head for the Omega Lock."

Understanding their roles, the group disembarked for their separate positions where they would take on the Decepticons. Violetwind and Bumblebee had staked out a place above the troops on a broken roadway. The femme was shifting nervously, scared about the battle ahead.

Noticing that she was unsettled, the yellow mech looked at her with concern, _'You alright?'_

Glancing briefly over at him, she turned her gaze to her pedes, "I'm just worried... about everything- about everyone. You guys have become like family, I don't want to see anyone get hurt..."

_'Hey, stop worrying. It won't help you and it won't help anyone else. We'll pull through this,'_ he assured her.

"You really think I can do this?"

Nodding he chirped comfortingly, _'You just have to believe in yourself, like the way you believe in Optimus.'_

She sighed, "Sometimes it's easier to believe in someone else..."

Their conversation grew quiet as the pair saw Smokescreen phase out of the ground behind the Decepticon army. The young mech was about to take out the rear guards before they even realised he was there. When they finally did turn around they were not even able to get a shot on him, the phase shifter causing them to fly right through him.

_'Right, my turn,'_ Bumblebee beeped, activating the polarity gauntlet. He picked up a large hunk of scrap metal, as the white mech ran off back into the wall. Directing the pile over the vehicon troopers he dropped it crushing a few of them in the process.

_'Now, Vi,'_ whirred the mech.

Activating the Immobilizer she aimed it towards the troops. Firing the weapon, the pulses froze the enemy where they stood, rendering them useless.

An enraged Megatron roared to his troops, "Crush them!"

His army was quick to obey, firing up at where the two Autobots were positioned.

_'Time to get going,'_ beeped the mech, grabbing Violetwind's arm and starting to run.

Racing along they dodged enemy blaster fire from below. Releasing her arm, Bumblebee transformed into vehicle mode, in order to facilitate their escape. The purple femme followed his example transforming into her alternate mode and speeding after him.

Elsewhere in their own positions, Bulkhead and Arcee joined in the battle, first with their blaster fire before jumping down to begin the charge; the blue femme wearing the Apex armour before she even hit the ground.

Bumblebee and Violetwind drove up behind them. The yellow mech returned to robot mode, running alongside the other two as they charged towards the vehicons. The femme transformed too, stumbling a little over her own pedes in the process. Regaining her balance she drew out her blaster, adding to her comrades' shots.

Behind her, Smokescreen emerged from the ground, joining the charge. "You ready for this, Vi?" he called over to her.

"No," she whined, wishing they were still back at base before things had gone rotten and Starscream had tricked them.

"You've got this! Just remember your training," the mech encouraged.

"Mhmm," she muttered to herself, "Hear that voice, remember my training. You were a big part of that so I hope you're not going to go and give me silent treatment now..."

She felt an inner sigh, coupled with a few seconds silence before it broke into her thoughts. _Well, I couldn't leave you out here defenceless now could I?_ She could almost feel it smirking.

"Good to know," the femme smiled a little.

Distraction from her inner voice came in the form of Megatron roaring to his troops. "Defend the keys!"

The vehicons surrounding those holding the keys automatically gathered closer, forming a tight-knit barrier. While others charged towards the Autobots, ready to give all they had in the battle.

_Slag's about to go down. Get ready._

The first of the Decepticon troopers came within physical combat distance. The Autobots knocked them down like they were nothing, focused on achieving their goal. Optimus joined them as they ran, shoving away vehicons with ease.

Angered by their progress, Megatron yelled a command to his troops, "Use the bombs!"

A trooper carrying the explosives, grabbed one and tossed it at their enemies. Violetwind shrieked as it landed in front of her, her arms instinctively raised to shield her face as she ducked back. Yet nothing happened. After a few seconds had passed, she slowly relaxed, opening her optics to look down at the supposed bomb.

Inside her head, her voice was cackling like an idiot.

"What happened?" she muttered in confusion.

"What was that supposed to be Deceptacreep! It didn't even fizzle!" Smokescreen yelled, a mocking grin on his face.

Still laughing her voice spat out, _T__he fragging idiots! They didn't even realise the plans I gave them weren't finished! Those were of the first prototype that was a complete failure! They have the wrong Immobilizer bomb plans!_

Hearing this, even Violetwind herself broke into giggles.

A deep growl could be heard from the Decpeticon leader in his anger, realising the plans must have been wrong, or that Knock Out was extremely incapable. "Get them!"

It was just after he yelled that Megatron was met by his old rival, Optimus Prime. The pair of mechs entered into battle against one another their mighty swords clashing in an amazing display. Purple and blue energy waves bloomed about them, showing off the immense power of their weapons.

_Megatron, you're gonna have to do better than that piece of scrap!_ her voice called out, uninterested in the leaders' battle and despite the mech himself not being able to hear it. Suddenly it stopped laughing and gave her a swift command,_ Vi, duck and slice!_

Having been giggling over the sneakiness of her inner voice she had forgotten about the battle, allowing one the the vehicons to almost get the drop on her. Luckily for her, her voice was watching out for her; still giving useful instructions, to which she reacted instinctively.

Ducking out of the way she brought out her left sword to slice the trooper across his chest-plate. Energon seeped from the wound as she delivered a kick over it, knocking the vehicon back. Quickly she spun around before another could come at her from behind, which one was trying to do.

_Go right._

Immediately she side stepped to the right, the shot that had been aimed at her helm, passing harmlessly by her. Swinging her left arm from across her chest she severed the mech's neck. A feeling of sickness welled up in her as she watched it fall backward, heavily leaking energon. It just hit her; she was fighting... she was _killing_...

This realisation froze her to the spot, gaze locked on the vehicon. Her vocal processors were choked up with emotion. "I- I..."

_Forget them! You need to get back into this fight or you'll be the one on the ground!_ Her voice yelled at her.

"I can't..." she cried softly, optics still locked on the leaking energon.

"Violet, look out!" Smokescreen yelled at her but she could not respond, horrified at being the cause of something's death.

_'Violet!'_ This time the shout was from Bumblebee right before he knocked into her, sending the pair tumbling to the ground.

Turning her helm to her rescuer, she looked at the mech with wide optics and open mouth but could not say anything.

Bumblebee looked down at her with concern before rolling off her and getting up. _'Hey, are you alright? You just froze up.'_

Shakily getting to her pedes, she vented for a few moments and collected her thoughts before they all poured out in a hurry, "I'm not ready for this. I can't do this. I don't want to do this! I don't wanna fight. I don't wanna kill! I c-"

He broke her off, stopping her from falling too far into a freak out rant. '_Violet, calm down! We can't back out now. Cybertron is counting on us. You can do this! Believe in yourself, I do.'_

She took a few deep breaths into her intakes in order to calm down.

_'If you don't want to kill, knock them out instead,'_ he suggested, _'or, use the Immobilizer more. It only freezes not kills.'_

"Right... Right, I can do this... I'll just, knock them out..." Steadying herself she looked back at the scout, "Thanks..."

The mech's optics softened before he whirred, _'I said I'd take care of you. You've got this.'_ He then quickly ducked back off into battle, yet staying nearby in case she needed more help defending herself again.

Surveying the fight she spotted an opening to the keys. Taking advantage of it she aimed the Immobilzer in that direction and fired, sending the waves over the vehicons holding the keys. Suddenly Bumblebee was at her side again, having realised what she was aiming for. Using the polarity gauntlet, he easily retrieved the keys from their holders, bringing them towards the Autobots. As they got close enough Arcee, Bulkhead, Smokescreen and Bumblebee plucked them straight out of the air.

_'Let's go,'_ chirped the yellow scout transforming to his alternate mode.

The rest followed his example, racing off with their prizes.

Optimus was the last to leave, having just knocked Megatron back he preformed a quick spin and swung his saber so that it sent an energy wave at his opponent. The wave hit Megatron with such a force that he was sent flying. Seeing that his team were already retreating Optimus joined them, leaving the last part of the plan to occur.

Megatron stood up on top of the decayed building Optimus had flung him onto. He roared threateningly at his soldiers, not happy that the Autobots had stolen back the keys. "I will have those keys or I will have your sparks!"

Stepping out from a piece of rubble, Smokescreen grinned. "I can help with the last part," he held up the final device in the Autobot's arsenal.

The Decepticon leader's optics went wide as he recognised the weapon. "The Spark Extractor!"

Hitting a few troops with his fist, the white mech phased through the ground, leaving behind the activated Spark Extractor. The weapon began to spark, arcing from the closest vehicons before its reach started spreading, taking the life from any trooper it came across.

Roaring in frustration, Megatron threw his sword into the spark extractor, destroying it and stopping it from taking more lives.

Smokescreen smirked as he phased through the environment to return to the others. The rest of Megatron's army had been taken care of and now the Autobots had some time to find and secure the Omega Lock.

* * *

And so we finally see what happened with those plans Violet gave to Megatron all those chapters ago.

Side note: the random planet name Aleneex, upon going back over it I realised it resemblance to the tissue brand, Kleenex. It was not intentional, yet amusing. XD


	16. Chapter 16

Stuff's about to go down! D:

* * *

Chapter 16

The six Autobots had successfully taken back the Omega Keys and gotten away from the Decepticons. Having been able to retreat quickly and leave Megatron with few soldiers, they felt it safe enough to continue in robot mode without the need to keep driving, so transforming they continued on their way.

"Our head-start won't last long," Arcee reminded them, knowing Megatron would be sure to call in for reinforcements.

Smokescreen looked over at the others, "So this is the place where Alpha Trion said we'd find it, right?"

"These are the coordinates," confirmed Bulkhead.

Violetwind hung back at the rear as they walked, her helm hanging in shame at her behaviour during the battle. Sure Bumblebee had helped her, but it did not make her feel any better knowing that energon had been spilt around her and some of it by her own hand. The femme considered asking to not be involved in anything further that required fighting. She had no taste for it.

"Hey, you're looking a bit lonely back here," Smokescreen cheerfully broke into her thoughts.

Glancing at him briefly, the femme's optics returned to studying the ground in front of her as she walked, replying distantly, "Oh, um, I'm fine..."

"That doesn't sound fine. Something on your mind?" he prodded. When she did not respond he went on to poke her side.

"Hey!" she cried out, sending him a glare.

"Seriously, what's got you so touchy?"

She sighed, looking back at the rusted metal ground. "That was- that was the first time I've really attacked something. I didn't like it... I don't want to fight any more..."

The mech's optics softened. "Vi... I know it's not the nicest of things but we are doing this for a reason."

"I know that," she said quickly. "The Decepticons... They only want to control; rule over others with their heavy handed tactics. I just... Maybe my memory loss has just made me soft... Forgetting the hardness of who I once was..."

"Hey, you're not soft. You went after Starscream. _Alone_. That's not something just anyone would do," he tried to console her.

"That's different! I wanted answers. I wasn't out to kill him. I wasn't- I never really felt like I was in a war..." she glanced over at the mech, "I wasn't thinking wisely at the time either... The voice in my head and my dreams... They had been getting to me. There's just so much I don't understand even about myself..."

Smokescreen was silent, unsure of what to actually say. He could tell she needed support but was inexperienced on how to give it. Slowly he spoke, trying to come up with something as he went, "Violet... I don't think you should worry so much about that. I'm sure you'll get your answers eventually... Focus on what you do know, like your training and uh, your resilience and... your pleasant personality. Like, be glad your not like grumpy old Ratchet!"

The femme smiled, feeling a little better knowing that he was trying. "Thanks, Smokescreen. You're a good friend, even if your advice somehow manages to add 'not being like Ratchet' into it." She chuckled softly in amusement.

"There now, we have a smile, and more like the Violetwind we all know and love. And yes we should all be glad you're not like him. I'm not sure we could handle having another around, one Ratchet is plenty," he grinned, a jesting twinkle in his optics.

"Well, I don't think that Ratchet's as bad as he wants everyone to think," the femme replied, defending the old medic.

"Maybe, but you know, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt for him to act a bit more friendly."

"That's true."

Their conversation was brought to an abrupt close when Arcee's voice came from up ahead, "Is this it?"

"It doesn't look like much," Bulkhead commented with a lack of enthusiasm towards the object he was gazing upon.

The pair of stragglers quickly caught up to look at the unassuming mechanic object the others were focused on. Running her gaze over the object, Violetwind had to agree with the green mech. It did not look like much at all, just a sort of boxy metallic thing coming up to her chest.

Lifting a hand to the side of his helm, Optimus commed back to base to give their medic an update, "Ratchet, we have located the Omega Lock."

A deep sigh of relief could be heard from the other side. **::**At last...**::** he muttered, before the comm clicked off.

The Prime went on to address those present, "According to Alpha Trion, the Omega Lock is a conduit to the very All Spark itself..."

Stepping up to the mech, Smokescreen held out the Omega Key, "Optimus, an honour like this, it shouldn't belong to me."

Before he could even respond, the key began to glow, soon followed by the others. The bots stared at each of the white glowing objects in surprise. To further shock them the lock itself started to glow. Lines of this power spread around from the Omega Lock, the Autobots all taking steps backward as they beheld the sight before them with wide optics.

The glowing pattern spread out on the ground around them. Reaching out, they activated something underneath the surface. The ground itself began to transform, four large pillars growing out of it. Expanding upward these massive pillars reached into the sky at a size that was absolutely enormous even for the Autobots. At the tops of the pillars, they extended out to attach to one another. Upon linking up, a blue glowing liquid like substance appeared, floating above them in the Omega Lock's circle, ripples shimmering across its surface.

Team Prime were overwhelmed with awe at what had occurred before them. Not one of them said a word as they simply let their optics wander over the structure in amazement.

However, they did not get the chance to marvel for long. The sound of a jet reached their audios, which could only mean one thing. Megatron. Turning towards the sound, Optimus grabbed the Star Saber from his back. Running forward they prepared themselves to defend the lock from the Decepticon leader.

Swooping down in an acrobatic display, Megatron transformed to land some distance in front of them. A malicious grin showed off his sharp teeth as he stood tall. "Autobots," he addressed the group, "I suggest you put a halt to your task and hand over the keys."

"And why would we do that?" challenged Smokescreen.

The silver mech did not answer, instead a space bridge opened up behind him. Out stepped Starscream, Soundwave and Knockout each carrying a large glass container. Held captive inside these containers were their three human companions, much to all the Autobots dismay.

Finally having acquired his bargaining chips, Megatron answered the rookie's question, his voice threatening, "So that I may hand over the humans."

Optimus' optics narrowed into a glare at his enemy as he tightened his grip on the Star Saber. "And if we refuse?"

Calmly striding over, the Decepticon grinned having eagerly anticipated this question. "Then I will have no choice but to open the pods, exposing your pets to Cybertron's toxic atmosphere." By now Megatron had walked right up in front of Optimus, getting right up in the other mech's face, "And then we can all watch them instantly perish, together..."

Kicking fruitlessly at the glass of her prison, Miko lamented, "Not how I wanted to spend my first trip to Cybertron..."

"He wouldn't really do that, would he?" whispered Violetwind worriedly sharing a glance with Smokescreen.

The mech dipped his head in a slight nod, knowing that Megatron would and have no qualms about doing so either.

Having heard her, the Decepticon looked down at the purple femme standing to the right of Optimus and slightly behind the mech. His harsh red optics sent a chill through her as she stared back with her fearful blue ones.

"Shame about those Immolilizer bombs not working, what did you leave out of them my dear?"

"I-I- th-they were the failed prototypes..." she stammered, recalling what her voice had said during the incident earlier.

"I see..." He grinned, leaning back, "You still have some deviousness in you. Perhaps I should offer you the chance to rejoin the Decepticons once again?"

Swallowing her fear she spoke up as bravely as she could, only the slightest waiver in her voice, "I will never join the Decepticons. I will never work under you or help you build any of your stupid weapons! Under Optimus Prime and with the Autobots is where I belong!" Her optics shone with a ferocity she had not felt before but she knew to be aided by her inner voice, which she silently thanked.

Megatron only chuckled in amusement. "A shame, really. You would have made such a fine Decepticon. But if that is what you wish, then know this: You will not last. You and your little Autobots have lost."

"Are you finished, Megatron?" Optimus growled, not pleased with the silver mech's harassment of one of his team.

Stepping back he grinned maliciously, letting out a simple call to rattle his enemies. "Starscream..."

The seeker lifted his pod to grin at it's occupant. "Jaaack," he sang, "time to come out and plaaay." Using his sharp fingers, Starscream scraped them across the surface causing a horrible shrieking noise.

Jack winced in the pain the sound caused to his ears but as it stopped he turned to glare up at the seeker with defiance. "Go ahead," he told his captor firmly, "The Autobots were prepared to sacrifice themselves for my planet. I'll do the same for theirs."

"Me too, creepy!" Miko glared at Knock Out as he held her own pod.

Raf was less outspoken compared to his friends but he too muttered a 'mhmm' and a glance at Soundwave. The younger boy was much more afraid compared his friends and not as bold.

Looking back at Optimus, Megatron smiled, "Perhaps we should oblige them?"

The red and blue mech knew he could not and would not risk the lives of their human friends. The restoration of their planet would not start the way it previously ended: with death. "If my decision dooms the future of the Autobot cause on Cybertron, so be it. But I will never forsake our human allies," he declared. Lifting his Star Saber, Prime stabbed it into the ground, stepping backward to stand more in line with his fellow bots.

Arcee made an angry grunt as she removed the Apex Armour. She then proceeded to toss the circular plating over to the Decepticons. The two wheeler felt a rage within her boiling up towards them for having kidnapped her partner. They would pay for what they had done.

Bumblebee made a displeased whir as he too tossed over his item, the polarity gauntlet, not willing to do anything which might see Raf harmed.

Smokescreen followed suit, removing his favoured phased shifter and adding it to the pile.

Looking at the Immobilizer in her hand, Violetwind considered using it on the Deceptions. It would be such a simple motion to accomplish. A mix of emotions swam through her but ultimately she knew the risk would be too great. If anything were to go wrong and something happen to the three humans because of her she would never be able to live with herself. So with a sigh of defeat, the femme also threw over her device.

The human children had their hands pressed against the glass, watching in horror as their Autobot friends gave up their weapons because of them. Yet there was nothing they could do about it. Their enemies held all the cards.

The Decepticons on the other hand, looked on in triumph. How easy it was to get the Autobots to see reason when their little human friends were threatened.

"Now if you'll please," Megatron extended a hand, "The Omega Keys. One at a time."

Knock Out walked forward first, holding up his tube with Miko inside. "You first, big boy." He taunted the mech and gestured for him to come closer with his finger.

The girl's guardian glanced down at the key in his hand, knowing that he had to give it up. Miko meant too much to him, but it also meant giving up the restoration of Cybertron to the Decepticons. Glancing to his left, he shared a worried look with Smokescreen, though this only lasted a moment before he looked up to Optimus. The leader gave Bulkhead the nod to go ahead, receiving a nod in reply from the green mech.

Slowly walking forward, he met Knock Out and narrowed his optics in a glare. "If I don't get the girl, I'll make you eat this key," Bulkhead growled, slamming the key into the red mech's hand.

The medic grinned smugly, "You're welcome." He handed over the pod containing Miko, earning a low grumble from the bot.

"Get scrapped!" the girl yelled at the Decepticon as they returned to the other Autobots.

Bumblebee was the next to go up, glaring and beeping angrily at Soundwave as he approached and handed over the key. Taking Raf, he looked down at the boy, whirring with concern, _'Are you alright, Raf?'_

The pre-teen smiled up at the yellow mech, feeling much more confident now that he was in safer hands. "I'm fine, Bee."

Optimus let out a deep vent as he glared at Megatron, the silver mech staring back at him a smirk easily slipping onto his face.

He turned to look over his shoulder at the final human to be traded over. "If this human was important enough to entrust with the matrix of leadership, he's worth two Omega Keys."

The Autobots were all looking at their leader expectantly. Without any other options, the red and blue mech gave a nod to the two remaining key holders, Arcee and Smokescreen. They proceeded to walk forward, prepared to exchange the keys with Starscream.

Watching on, Violetwind was very glad she did not posses one of the keys and did not have to go any closer to the untrustworthy Decepticons. She did, however, wish there was something they could do. Her door wings twitched nervously unable to hold in her distress over the situation as she watched.

Placing the pod down, Starscream grinned wickedly, "No tricks!" He raised his missiles at the pair bringing over the keys, "The keys if you please." The mech then upturned his palms to accept the ransom.

The pair grudgingly handed over the objects he demanded. Arcee bent down to look at Jack, the boy gazing up at her with worry. However, the femme smiled impressed by her partner's courage.

Not a moment later a space bridge opened up and vehicons piled out of it. Arcee quickly scooped up Jack's pod, and she and Smokescreen dashed back to the rest of their comrades. The Autobots were quickly surrounded, the sound of the troopers arming their weapons filling the air.

Bulkhead and Bumblebee's grip on their charges' pods tightened protectively. Arcee clenched her fists, glaring at the troopers surrounding them, wishing they could fight back. Similarly, Smokescreen wanted to do something other than stand there but knew better than to push his luck this time. Violetwind just stared back at the Decepticons in fear, wanting to hide behind something. Their enemies had the drop on them again.

Meanwhile the red and blue mech glanced at the vehicons around them, hands ready for battle yet knowing that with the children present it was too dangerous. Optimus' spark ached at being unable to do anything. They had been so close to restoring Cybertron only for it to be snatched from their grasp.

Taking an Omega Key from Starscream, Megatron and the mechs under his command surrounded the Omega Lock. Lifting the key he grinned, "Now bear witness as a new era dawns on Cybertron." He proceeded to insert the key into the lock, the others following his example.

Immediately the lock radiated light, glowing brightly before a holographic map of Cybertron appeared above the lock. Electricity like sparks arced their way up the structure into the rim at the top and into the rippling blue cybermatter.

"Behold! The age of the Decepticons!" shouted an ecstatic Megatron. Pressing a button on the lock's holographic screen, the lock began to charge up.

It did not take long for it to build up energy and fire a beam at an old run down Cybertronian building. A steady stream of energy kept up for a few moments before stopping. When it had finished everyone, Autobot, Decepticon and human, looked on in wide-eyed amazement with slack jaws. The Omega Lock had turned what had been rusted and broken and restored it to new. The building shone out in stark contrast to the blackened wreckage around it.

"By the All Spark," Optimus muttered.

_'Woah,'_ chirped the yellow scout.

All the humans uttered, "Woah," in unison.

"Instant makeover," Miko added, summing up the Omega Lock's powers.

Knock Out looked upon the building with an eager gaze and lopsided grin. "Shiny," he commented in approval.

_Wow that's incredible... _

_You said it._

_Cybertron can be restored and everyone will have somewhere to return to,_ the voice muttered excitedly.

_I donno about that. The Decepticons are in control right now..._ She reminded her voice.

_We're so close but! We can't just give up now!_

The purple femme did not respond as she was scared, knowing the voice meant more fighting, not something she really wanted to be involved in...

"You have what you want, Megatron," Optimus called out, stepping forward, his fists clenched in anger and determination, "This conflict is between Autobots and Decepticons. Allow me to return the humans to Earth."

Megatron smiled turning to face the mech, his optics showing great amusement at the Autobot leader's request. "Oh, I wouldn't recommend it. They'll be safer here," he spoke, earning a glare from the opposing mech. He turned to his second in command, "Is the space bridge locked on target?"

Starscream laid his hand across his chest in false humility, "Per your instructions, lord Megatron."

"Excellent," he responded, "Why rule only one world, when I can rule two?"

Above the Omega Lock appeared the large swirling blue-green vortex. Pressing a button on the lock once more, electricity arced around the lock's rim and a beam fired off, this time straight through the space bridge which was directed at Earth.

Horror and fear for Earth and its people tore at Optimus Prime's spark. "Noo..." he vented, his optics wide as he watched.

"If the Omega Lock can restore Cybertron, it'll do the same to Earth, right?" Miko questioned, not realising the danger of Megatron's actions.

"No," the red and blue mech replied, "It will cyberform your planet in favour of its new matrix. Destroying all indigenous life in the process..."

The grave news was difficult for them to take and was not at all aided by Megatron's taunting. "Such raw power!" He smirked and jeered at them, "What shall I call my new domain? New Kaon? Or perhaps gilded Earth?"

Violetwind glanced up to see the haunted look in Optimus' optics. Dread was rising up in her pwn spark and she looked back to the Omega Lock. The device made to revive Cybertron was going to destroy everyone and everything on Earth. They could _not_ let that happen.

"Noo!" shouted Jack, banging against the glass in protest.

Miko added her own cries, "Leave our planet alone!"

In that moment, Violetwind knew she felt as they did, like a hand crushing her very spark. But everything looked hopeless. Reaching out a hand, she lightly touched their leader's arm, looking fearfully into his optics. "Optimus..." she silently pleaded with him.

Staring into the femme's gaze along with the human's outcry, the red and blue mech knew what he had to do. Turning back to Megatron and his Decepticons who were all laughing in triumph, his optics narrowed in anger and determination.

Unsheathing his left sword, Optimus slashed at the closest vehicon and flung him backward into Knock Out. Before their enemies had any time to respond, he dashed towards where he had embedded the Star Saber into the ground. Retrieving it, he immediately spun around, sending an energy wave at the three troopers who had foolishly tried to stop him.

Noticing the Autobot leader trying to fight back, Megatron gave a roar, running forward to take on his opponent with the Dark Star Saber once more. He was the only one able to take on Optimus when he wielded the powerful weapon of the Primes.

The old opponents clashed swords and as the pair recoiled from the initial hit, Optimus was quick to raise up his blade only to bring it down on Megatron's right arm, slicing off the deceased Prime's limb that he had stolen.

Not wasting any time, Optimus continued to race forward to the lock, using the Star Saber to deflect the shots fired at him by Soundwave and Knock Out. Even Starscream's missile could not stop him, the mech dodging out if its path with ease. Leaping upward, Optimus stepped on the seeker's face gaining extra hight in his jump and bringing his sword down on the Omega Lock itself.

The slice resulted in a large explosion, the force pushing back everyone surrounding the lock.

Through the smoke and fire of the destruction, Ratchet called in through the comm link, his previously downed communications back online with the destruction of the Omega Lock's cybermatter beam. **::**Optimus, can you read me?**:: **

"Ratchet," the mech responded, though he sounded winded, "Please open... a space bridge."

Fire burned around the site from the explosion, everyone slowly recovering from the blast and rising wearily to their pedes.

Unprepared for the shock wave, Violetwind had been knocked off her pedes. Getting up she looked around to see that a space bridge had opened up nearby. Arcee and Bumblebee were quick to head into it carrying their human partners. Bulkhead soon entered as well, holding Miko's pod close.

The purple femme followed their example running over, meeting up with Smokescreen. He shot her a reassuring look as they both entered. While Optimus brought up the rear.

She felt herself relax a little as they traversed the glowing tunnel and let out a sigh; she believed that they and Earth were safe. How wrong she was.

* * *

Really hope I captured some of the amazingness of that scene when the Omega Lock appeared, even a small amount would be great. (Seriously go watch that scene again.) Plus so many emotions I tried to capture in this chapter. *faints*


	17. Chapter 17

Shoutout to my amazing readers! We reached 3000 views! Thanks to all of you! And I love hearing from you guys in the reviews, know that I think you're all amazing! So thanks guys! I never expected such a response when I first posted it, and am just amazed that I get readers every day! So don't mind me as I gush out a bit of love to you all.

Also I apologise as I only just now realised that some of the things I'd underlined for when Violet's voice is talking weren't staying underlined when I uploaded them onto here. I hope it didn't make her conversations with 'herself' to difficult to follow. I'll be fixing up the previous chapters and keeping a vigilant eye out for this in the future.

* * *

Chapter 17

The Autobots stepped from the space bridge into their base, returning from the planet Cybertron. They held solemn faces, their minds clouded with what had occurred back on their planet and coming to terms with its consequences.

All but one. Violetwind was filled with relief. Fear had torn at her spark worse than anything she had known before when the Earth had been in danger. Now that she had returned, the femme felt better, however part of her was still grieved.

_Cybertron will never be restored now..._

Only now did she fully understood why the other Autobots were despondent. Their home would remain a lifeless husk. They would not be returning as they had hoped. It made her feel guilty for having been pleased. Though the earth had been saved it had been at a great cost to the Autobots.

The mech who had remained behind turned to greet them. When his optics laid sight of the pods, he uttered in surprise, "The children? What happened?"

No one answered as they placed the humans' pods down, setting them free.

This only served to frustrate the confused Ratchet. "Somebody say something!"

With a deep vent, Bulkhead offered up an explanation in the simplest terms, "Optimus... Destroyed the Omega Lock." Even as he said it, he could hardly believe it had happened.

The medic's optics widened in horror. "What!? You did-!" he started to shout at the Prime before being cut off.

"What was necessary," he finished calmly. "There was no time for a prolonged battle. Not with Earth in imminent danger."

"So you destroyed the only device in any universe capable of restoring our home..." Ratchet slumped against the railing near the computers, barely able to process what his audios had heard. The deepest grief could be heard in his voice, "Optimus... We needed that..."

Smokescreen piped up in the leader's defence, "You weren't there, Doc. And it's not your place to second guess a battlefield decision!"

"It most certainly is!" The medic snapped, stepping forward to glare at the rookie. "There had to be another way!"

Walking over on the catwalk, the humans looked up at the mech.

"It wasn't that simple, Ratchet," Jack stated, not pleased with the medic's reponse to the rescue of their planet.

Raf went on, "Megatron was using the Omega Lock to attack the Earth."

"Optimus saved our planet!" Miko glared at the bot, hands on her hips.

"And what about our planet?!" he shouted back. "All of our struggles and energon spilled. Countless sacrifices. For nothing?!"

Violetwind stared at the ground, unwilling to look at the medic, lest his harsh optics glare at her too. She did not understand why she did not feel the same; why she was not as passionate about Cybertron as the others. She tried to console herself by saying that it was just because she had no memories of it. Yet, was that the answer?

Trying to shake off the feeling she glanced over at Arcee, the femme growling back at the cranky medic. "Right decision or wrong, what's done is done. But we have another problem here, on this world. The 'Cons changed the rules when they put Jack, Miko and Raf into play."

"What do we do about it?" Violetwind queried, concerned about their human friends' safety. "They know where to find you..."

"That's right," confirmed Jack, his face crestfallen.

"What about our families? Will we have to be relocated to another town?" Raf asked, concerned about his family. He was obviously worried that they might be hurt and had reason to be.

"I believe we will need to contact Agent Fowler b-" Optimus started, an urgent communication cutting him off.

**::**Prime!**::** shouted the incoming call from the very human he had been talking about. **::**The Pentagon's preparing to go to defcon one! I need to know what we're dealing with!**::**

Optimus raised an optic ridge, "To what do you refer, Agent Fowler?"

**::**Maybe you should step outside and see for yourselves,**::** he suggested not explaining further.

Turning to head towards the elevator Prime said firmly, "Ratchet, watch the children."

Violetwind glanced at Ratchet then at the humans before heading after Optimus and the others. The femme was curious and wanted to see what Agent Fowler had been talking about, whatever it may be.

Slowly the elevator emerged from the top of the base. The Autobots gaped in awe seeing the structure now towering over the Nevada plains. Not one of them even glanced toward the helicopter that landed nearby and the pudgy human who stepped out. They could not tear their gaze from the cybertronian like building.

"Megatron has managed to accomplish the first phase of his cyberforming of Earth; the construction of his fortress," Optimus explained what they were seeing, mostly for the benefit of their human companion.

Agent Fowler's face crinkled up with confusion. "In Jasper, Nevada? I don't get it. I've already had the town evacuated, why here?"

_'Looks like Megatron himself has made an arrival,'_ Bumblebee pointed at the _Nemesis_ as it flew towards them.

"Because the Decepticons have discovered the location of our base," replied the leader.

The seeker armada flew down towards the Autobot base, lead by Starscream himself. He cackled madly, swooping down to begin the assault, firing upon the Autobots. Bringing out their own blasters, they fought back, defending their home, Optimus the first to react, firing directly at the Decepticon second in command but his shots were easily dodged by the expert flier.

Smokescreen ducked out of the way as a seeker flew over head, quickly spinning around to shoot it down as it passed. The yellow scout took on those still coming their way, while Arcee dodged the rain of shots with ease. Too large to dodge though, Bulkhead held an arm over his helm till it eased enough for him to fire back.

Not wishing to be a part of the fight, Violetwind stood behind the others, her optics locked on the inbound jets in fear.

_What are you doing?! Do you wanna die! Shoot back!_ Yelled her voice.

_I think that's gonna happen anyway..._ she thought back.

A new noise filled the air amidst the usual sounds of battle, the buzzing of many rapidly beating wings. Looking towards the sound, the purple femme's optics widened. While the seeker jets flew about to make another pass, large bug like robots were flying their way. Pointing towards the frightful bugs, she cried out, "What are those things?!"

_'They're insceticons,'_ Bumblebee informed her, not turning away from the fight.

Unamused by the arrivals Smokescreen groaned, "Great..."

The insecticons climbed up the rocky cliff sides of the base, attacking from all around them. Optimus retracted his blasters to take out the Star Saber which had been anchored to his back. The impressive weapon deflected shots and cut to pieces the insecticons trying to climb up the walls near his pedes.

"Eeep!" Violetwind screeched as one of the monstrous bugs headed her way, the weapon on its snout charging up. Transforming her arms into blasters she fired several shots into its face, downing the ugly beast.

Her spark beat heavily in her chest with fear. Staring at the insecticon with wide optics she was unable to stop her arms and legs from trembling.

A crash to her left had her head whirling around to see what it was. The rookie had hit an inscticon with his shoulder knocking it away from her. Punching the side of its head, he swapped his hand for a blaster to shoot it directly in the face, killing it.

He turned back to her with a smirk, "I've got your back."

His confident demeanour amongst the battle helped ease her fears a little, allowing the shaking in her limbs to slow. The simple knowledge of someone being there assisted in calming her nerves.

"Thanks, Smoke," she vented a sigh of relief.

"Hey fights not over yet," he reminded her, lifting his gaze to the air as seekers and insecticons flew above them. Without missing a beat, he continued to try and shoot them down.

With a groan she lifted her arms to fire upon the enemy, mainly aiming for the creepy insecticons so she would not feel so bad if she actually killed any. The bug like Decepticons seemed far more mindless and so she reasoned within herself that as such were more like drones to ease the guilt. Plus they just plain freaked her out compared to the vehicons.

Glancing towards the _Nemisis_, she could see more insecticons coming their way. "How many of these things are there..."

Also seeing the new wave of enemies, Optimus span around swinging his saber, and moving forward as he did so to send an energy wave at the approaching insecticons. The wave fanned out and exploded many of the bugs on impact. The ball of fire then helped to take out some of those nearby not directly hit by the initial wave of energy. It had hit their ranks hard but they still kept coming.

Seeing the futility of the battle, Optimus called for a retreat. "Autobots! Into the base!"

As the bots headed for the elevator, Agent Fowler went in the other direction, towards his helicopter. Seeing him do so, Bulkhead looked over at him like he was crazy. "Fowler, what are you doing?"

"My job, two tonne," the human replied, buckling himself into the vehicle. Taking off, Fowler flew into the fray.

"Should he be doing that?" Violetwind softly questioned.

Arcee shrugged, "Probably not, but I'm not gonna stop him."

The Autobots gathered on the elevator and went back down into the base. Re-entering the main hub another missile hit, shaking the structure. Dirt floated down from the roof, adding to the sense of unease.

"What's happening?" Jack asked, staring up at the bots with concern.

Ratchet stared at Optimus with wide questioning optics. "What's going on out there?"

The mech wore a grave expression. "The Decepticons have invaded Jasper."

"And Fowler seems to think he can hold em off," the green mech added in disbelief.

Before they had time to process the news, Agent Fowler's voice commed through the computer, **::**Prime, reinforcements just arrived.**::**

"Agent Fowler, your military cannot prevail against the-" before he could protest further, Optimus was cut off.

**::**You didn't think I was gonna let Team Prime have all the fun did ya?**::** spoke an unfamiliar mech.

"Haha, it's Jacky!" laughed Bulkhead with glee, recognising the voice.

"Wheeljack? but how did you?" The medic uttered in disbelief.

**::**Picked up a strange energy surge. Hope you don't mind the company.**::**

"No. It's just that after everything, well..."

**::**We're still on the same side, Doc. Always will be.**::**

"Who's Jacky?" whispered the purple femme.

"That's Wheeljack, Bulkhead's old friend. They were in the Wreckers together," offered Raf.

"Oh, ok. So, what's the Wreckers?"

Miko took over this time, throwing her arms about in enthusiasm, "They are an awesome group of Autobots, not afraid of anyone or anything! We're not to be messed with! Those 'Con's better watch their tailpipes now!"

"We're?" she repeated not sure if she had heard the girl correctly.

"Oh, yeah! I'm one of them. First human Wecker after I snuffed Hardshell," the girl puffed out her chest proudly.

"What's a hardshell?"

Miko rolled her eyes. "Only the toughest insecticon they had. Until I took care of him, of course."

Looking down at the teenaged girl, Violetwind found that she had a little more respect for the young human. Taking out insecticons was not an easy thing to do.

Optimus broke in, having been silent with thought for the past few minutes. "Ratchet, prepare to bridge everyone out of here."

"We're abandoning the base?" he uttered, not sure if his audios had heard correctly.

"The base is lost," their leader replied firmly, "Wheeljack and Agent Fowler can only buy us time to escape. Bumblebee, Rafael, you will depart first."

_'Yes, Optimus,'_ the scout trilled obediently.

Raf looked up at the mech with frightened eyes, "You're splitting us up?"

"Shouldn't we stick together?" questioned Jack, stepping forward.

"All for one and one for all?" Miko added.

The red and blue mech shook his head. "We must disperse to avoid capture until we can regroup and launch a counter attack. Survival is our only priority now."

Scooping the boy up, Bumblebee whirred sadly, trying to comfort his companion. _'We'll make it through this.'_

Stepping forward, Violetwind reached out a finger to ruffle Raf's hair, giving him a sad smile. "Be safe. And keep Bee out of trouble."

"Of course, Vi," he gave her small smile.

_'We'll be fine, won't we, Raf?'_ Bee chirped, the young human nodding in reply.

Moving out of the way she allowed the scout to put him down and transform. Opening his door, he allowed Raf to climb inside. Once buckled up, the boy looked out the window with sad eyes. He did not want to leave everyone behind, to say goodbye like this.

Inputting a set of coordinates, Ratchet opened the ground bridge and everyone turned to watch the send off. All eyes and optics rested on the vehicle, each one thinking over their current circumstances. It did not seem like it could be true. They were actually abandoning the base.

"Take care, Bumblebee," Optimus nodded to the pair.

Honking his horn, the scout drove through the ground bridge, his occupant looking back at the others. The boy's eyes held sadness and fear before he disappeared from view through the tunnel.

"Bulkhead, Miko, you are to go next."

"Optimus, are you sure about this?" the girl pointedly questioned the bot, hand on her hips.

He withheld a sigh, "It is our best course of action." Prime did not wish to admit that even he did not like the plan himself. But he also knew they could not defend the base from the attack nor could they leave together as it would be too conspicuous. They stood a greater chance of going undetected in smaller groups.

"Come on, Miko," the green mech urged his partner.

The girl frowned as she jumped down the stairs. To her this seemed like a bum rap, abandoning the base and splitting up. Even though Optimus might have thought it best, she still felt there was something else they could do...

Jack trailed after her, getting ready for his turn to leave. Like Miko he did not want to leave but he understood it was too dangerous to remain. As the oldest of the humans he had always felt the desire to protect the others. They had grown to be great friends and with things looking so bleak as they split up, he wondered if they would ever see each other again.

Bulkhead transformed into his alternate mode, opening his door. Miko climbed into the passenger's side seat, a small grumble of protest on her lips. As the door closed behind her and she looked out the window, her stern look softened. She looked sadly over at Jack as he hopped onto Arcee who had changed into her vehicle mode. The teen looked back, his own look mirroring hers, both wondering how long it would be before they saw each other again.

"We do not have much time," Optimus stated bluntly, wishing to hurry up the evacuation as another round of blaster fire hit the base causing debris to fall from the roof.

Without a word, Bulkhead drove through the ground bridge, his passenger getting a last glimpse of Jack and the bots before they too disappeared to another part of America.

Ratchet quickly reset the ground bridge for Arcee and Jack. They sped off, escaping the base as another hit shook the building.

"Smokescreen," their leader addressed the rookie, "You will be next."

"And Violetwind?" he looked over at the femme, who had been watching the others leave but turned his way upon hearing mention of her name.

"She will be accompanying Ratchet," the mech stated, glancing at the medic who gave a little huff.

Silently the purple femme wished she were going with Smokescreen, he was much better company than Ratchet. The grumpy old medic was not exactly a barrel of laughs to be around. Even Optimus would be better. At least he had his calm, gentle personality going for him. Though she was not about to protest, nodding in acknowledgement.

"Of course." The rookie turned to Ratchet, trying to lift the mood despite his heavy spark, "You'd better take care of her. I'll hunt you down if I find you've let her get into trouble."

The medic spluttered, "Pfffugh, I think we should be more worried about you being trouble."

"You know me, Doc," he smiled briefly before looking at Violetwind. "Just make sure you stay safe."

"Smokescreen..." The femme stared at him, tears in her optics. Springing forward she clenched him tightly in a hug. The mech was surprised at first by the outburst but was quick to reciprocate the gesture, the warm embrace making it hard to say goodbye.

After what seemed like an eternity, yet was only mere moments, she slowly let go, moving back to look up into his face, wiping the lubricant from her optics, "Promise me you'll make it back alive. You've already scared me enough times making me think I'd lost my closest friend."

He smiled, "I promise. You can't get rid of me that easy." The smile dropped from his face, the air becoming serious. "Goodbye, Violet. Optimus, Ratchet." The rookie looked at each of them. Standing tall, he saluted, before transforming and driving through the ground bridge.

Ratchet changed the vortex's destination once more and started to move towards it.

Seeing that they were leaving too, the femme lifted her gaze to Prime, "But what about you?"

"I will ensure that the Decepticons cannot follow," he replied.

"You're going to-" the medic started to say.

"Yes, Ratchet. I will remain here to destroy the ground bridge controls," his deep voice was strained with rare emotion.

"Optimus, everything is going to he alright isn't it? I mean, we're all going to make it out of this, aren't we?" she asked, wishing for some reassurance for the uncertain times ahead.

"We must have hope, Violetwind," he offered. "Though the Decepticons may think they have obtained victory, as long as there are those willing to stand up against oppression; freedom will prevail."

"Yes, I guess so..." the femme trailed after Ratchet.

The medic gave one last wide opticked look at the noble leader, the pair sharing the knowing gaze of long time comrades. With a sigh he then turned muttering, "I... Never imagined it would end like this..." He then transformed and drove through the swirling gate.

Turning to follow, Violetwind transformed as well, hearing Optimus Prime mutter a sad response as she left, "Neither did I, old friend..."

_Slag those Decepticons. Why did it have to come to this?_

* * *

Ahh, gosh leaving the base! D: All that sadness...  
Also, Ratchet's "We needed that..." such emotion re-watching that for that scene.


	18. Chapter 18

So excited when I finally got to write this chapter! I had been waiting a long time for this! I may have been a little too excited to write it though, it first came out as a bit of word vomit and took a little reworking. Hope it came out alright.  
Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 18**

Two bots rolled out of the ground bridge, the vortex closing behind the mech and femme. They found themselves at the edge of a town close to a junkyard. Dusk was befalling them though it was not yet dark enough for the lights of the nearby town to be shining. No humans were around, the place having been abandoned for the night.

Ratchet entered through the rough driveway to the junkyard, parking amongst the rusted half crushed cars. Following him, Violetwind glanced at their surroundings with displeasure but remained in vehicular mode. Driving up next to the medic she stopped beside him.

"So what's our next move?" she asked trying to give her mind something to think on rather than the attack on their base; to do anything to move her thoughts from its likely destruction and the only home she could remember. It was too depressing to contemplate the separation of the Autobots as they scattered to keep safe.

"There is none!" he snapped, too irritated by what had happened to offer any kind of support.

"Wha-? Ratchet?" the femme did not understand.

"You heard me!" the mech transformed back to robot more to glare down at her. "There is no next move! No plan! The base is lost! Our_ home_ is lost! We have nothing!"

Transforming, she stood up to return his firm gaze, "We have each other, Ratchet. The others are out there and we _will_ fix this!"

"Fix this?! We can't fix this! I can't even tell what's wrong with your head, to be able to fix that! It's hopeless!" the medic yelled back, arms waving about in frustration.

A flicker of hurt shone from her optics; he'd been hiding something. "Ratchet... What's wrong...? What haven't you been telling me...?"

He looked away, silent for a few moments, a heavy sigh leaving him. He deeply regretted hiding the information from her but had felt it necessary. It was not like it was it was easy to explain about something he did not even understand himself. "Your brain scans... They're unlike anything I've ever come across. They're _not normal_."

"What exactly are you saying?" she looked at him fearfully. She had somewhat suspected that something might have been up, that the mech had been hiding information from her. However, this made her wonder if it had perhaps been more serious than she had previously thought.

"I'm saying I can't even read your brains scans. Your neural network is far more complex than it should be. It's worse than when Bulkhead was infected with the information from the data cylinder! And that memory block, ugh, it- _you_ are an anomaly of science! Nothing about it makes any sense! It's like there's two parts to your head! Two... Two sets of information. Yes, I think that's the only way to explain it. But it does not make sense to how or why such a thing could occur. A Cybertronian mind does not just split into two."

Violetwind stared at him with wide optics, everything falling into place, "Like... There's two of me in my head..."

"That's impossible. By Primus, you can't have two living beings in one body." the mech quickly dismissed the idea, rubbing the back of his neck in thought. "The signals from each of the brainwaves were very different."

"Like... My voice..." she continued, "It's living in there. Invaded my brain..."

Ratchet raised an optic ridge. "I'm sure that's not..."

"Like two minds inhabiting one..." speaking the words out loud and subsequently hearing them felt like she was concreting the realisation. Bringing the wild thought into reality, while it may have sounded crazy, it felt like the truth. Now she just needed some answers to why and there was only one person who could give them.

Raising her voice she called to the air, "You! I don't know what to call you but you that strange voice that's been plaguing me all this time, what are you doing? Why are you there?" She turned away from Ratchet, still shouting, "And how did you get in my head?!"

The medic's concerned gaze rested upon her back, wondering if she had lost it, softly pleading under his breath, "Primus, help us..."

"What do you want from me?!" Violetwind yelled in desperation to what seemed like the air.

The voice did not answer, yet she could feel its presence.

"I know you're there! I know you can here me!"

The mech regretted having opened his mouth. Reaching out a hand to her, he called softly, "Violetwind..."

"Not now, Ratchet," she barked, glancing back at him darkly before turning her gaze away again.

The entity was growing more uncomfortable by the second but still did not respond.

Feeling more heated than she had ever been, Violetwind growled, "You think you can just come and live in my head and hold my memories hostage, you little invader!"

Finally the voice lost it. _I'm not the slagging invader, you are!_

Everything drained from the femme, her arms falling heavily to her sides, door wings slumping and gaze locked on the ground but not seeing anything. "I'm... the invader...?"

"Uh, Violetwind...?" The mech asked in confusion, not having heard the accusation as she had.

"I don't..."

The voice groaned. _Understand? I know._

"But..."

_I'm not making this up. You really are the intruder here. This, uh, this could take a while to explain... You may want to tell gramps over there to go take a stasis nap and sit yourself down._

Turning around she looked over at Ratchet. "Um, I... I think there are some things I need to sort out..."

He opened his mouth to speak but she raised a hand stopping him, her voice soft, "Alone..."

Transforming down she drove off, leaving him standing there just watching her with concerned optics.

"Primus, Optimus, I wish it had been someone else to watch her." With a groan he returned to vehicle mode, prepared to power down and wait for everything to end.

Driving out of the junkyard, Violetwind headed out of town. Her mind's voice was silent but a million questions of worry and fear buzzed through her head.

Eventually, she left the road and transformed. Walking through the trees she sat down, hidden from human eyes within the forest. Resting against one of the trees she closed her optics, taking a deep intake of air.

"I think it's time for some explanations..." she muttered softly.

_Yes, I do believe I owe you that._ Her voice responded. _First off, if you haven't got it already, I'm the_ real _Violetwind. _

"Yes, I... I guess that makes sense..."

With a deep sigh the voice began. _So I shall start from the beginning. When I was but a scientist back on Cybertron, one of the many things I studied was a some organic creatures, though they were nothing like those from Earth. There were some strange little furry six-legged things. Studying them was not my department, but a friend of mine cared for them. Turnblade was his name. He was very interested in them and would often excitedly tell me all about any new things he had discovered. I often just listened good naturedly, he was always so fragging enthusiastic when he talked. _The feeling of an inner smile came from her voice.

"Sounds like you were close," a small grin lifted up her mouth as she stared up at the stars.

_We were. He was my best friend._ The feeling of happiness faded, replaced instead by a deep sadness. _He would have loved it here... So many creatures to learn about._

Despite it being a diverting subject to their conversation, curiosity got the better of her and the purple femme queried, "What happened to him?"

_He died... He was killed when we escaped from the slagging Decepticons... I never told anyone else that I was with someone when I left. I couldn't bring myself to tell anyone about Turnblade's death as just thinking about it felt like I was reliving the moment. I always felt it was my fault... I... I try to focus on the fact that I was lucky to have made it to the Autobots and that Optimus allowed me stay. _

_But, this is not something I wish to dwell on right now,_ the voice confessed. _You don't need to hear my sap story. _

_So, as I was saying, he loved to talk about his creatures and one thing that I actually became interested in was the minds of the little things. He often allowed me to study their brainwaves with him. I don't know if it has dawned on you yet what this has to do with you...? _

Wringing her hands, the femme shook her head.

The voice heaved a sigh. _This is more difficult than I expected... Let me try again. Studying organic being's brainwaves, learning their patterns and signals, well, you see the Decepticons thought that with the All Spark gone – and before you ask – it is the thing, the essence, that gives life to all Cybertronians. The 'Cons thought they could potentially make soldiers by creating bodies and implanting an organic mind into it. So through Turnblade's study, with a little help from me, we found that we could transfer their consciousness into a Cybertronian body, one that was previously lifeless, anyway. The study wasn't _exactly_ a success at the time but we had the basics of it. I believe it was because the processors we built were not powerful enough to hold the originally organic minds._

Hesitantly Violetwind tried to make sense of things, "Ok, I... _believe_ I know what you're getting at. I- I'm not Cybertronian... You uploaded me into your brain. Am I one of those creatures?"

_No, no, slag, nothing that crazy. They weren't that bright actually. Bunch of fragging little idiots if you ask me. Um,_ she paused momentarily, _Actually you're something much closer... From this planet..._

"I'm from Earth?"

_I didn't intend to do this to any of the planet's inhabitants... It certainly wasn't on purpose. It was just an accident. _

"How do you _accidentally_ do this to someone?" she asked accusingly. This whole incident rather horrified her, it was like something out of a science fiction film.

_Well, you remember that dream you had about the spaceship crashing, right?_

"Yeah..." she responded warily, not sure what the dream had to do with it. "It was a little terrifying. It felt very real."

_That because it wasn't just a dream. It was a memory. My memory. It seems I can't control memories from entering your processor while in recharge. Anyway, that's how I arrived on Earth. It was a terrible crash but luckily it was into a forest with no one around. Or so I had thought. _

_When I stumbled out of the vessel some of the surrounding forest was on fire, something I was quick to try and fix. In putting out the fire, I found a human. She was underneath one of the trees my ship had knocked over and was badly burnt. Rescuing her I did not know what to do. I... I felt terrible for only just having arrived and already injuring one of the natives. Worse, I could tell it was dying..._

Violetwind's optics widened, "And you..."

_Yes. I did the only thing I could think of. Using my knowledge of organic brainwaves I downloaded the human's mind into my own. Afterward I buried the humans body far from my ship. I had been heading back when I fell into stasis. I suspect it may have been my processor adjusting to the extra information. And when I awoke, it wasn't me in control..._

"It was me..." The femme said breathlessly.

_To help with the change, I stored away all our memories before you fully regained consciousness. I figured it would help you adjust better if you didn't know what had happened or how you got there. I only wanted to help reduce the trauma. I... I guess I knew this would all have to come out eventually. I was just trying to protect you! I didn't want you to die out there because of me!_

"You... You... How could you? I didn't ask for this. You stole my life! My body! Me! You practically kidnapped me!" she yelled, shock and confusion boiling up inside her.

She did not want to believe it but everything about it made sense. It was like something from a movie or a book, some crazy dream and yet was real. The femme grabbed her helm, everything sinking in, her limbs trembling.

"That dream filled with nothing but pain, it was my own memory of that day..." Releasing her helm she brought her hands out in front of her where she could see them. Looking down at them she tried to imagine what they were actually supposed to be like; covered in flesh instead of the metal appendages she currently possessed. The femme whined in disbelief, "Why did you do this? You stole everything from me..."

_Violetwind, please-_

"No, don't call me that! That's not my name that's yours! I don't even know what my name is..." Tears began to trickle down her face as she sobbed violently, the action shaking her whole frame.

_Victoria... I'm sorry..._

The femme paused in confusion, "What?"

_I'm sorry... Victoria. It's your name. Your human name... Victoria Amalia Evans _

"Victoria? But how-?"

_I have access to all your memories._

"Then why can't I-?"

The voice cut her off again. _I can't release your memories to you I'm afraid. In storing them away I didn't plan properly, which is part of the reason why they're returning to you in your dreams. _The voice groaned in annoyance at herself for her own inadequacy and frustration. _Think of it this way. There's this fence and you're on one side where you can live and move and the like. Then on the other side is me. On my side is all the past memories. Retrieving memories for me is simple because I have them on hand but they don't fit though the fence so you can't get to them and I can't hand them over to you. We can talk to one another through the fence but neither of us can get to what the other has. But then it seems that sometimes, while in recharge, the fence becomes permeable enough so that some of the memories are able to sneak by and you can experience them. _

_I'm really sorry, Victoria... I've put you through so much and even now, with everything going on... The war and the fighting... I feel as if I've ruined your life rather than saved it..._

Taking a deep vent, the femme allowed her flow of tears to ebb. The original Violetwind obviously felt remorseful about what she had done but she had done it for the right reasons. No one could really have known what to expect given the situation. The science was untested and the femme understood that.

Slowly she allowed a small smile to slip onto her face. Things were bad, that was true, but she decided to count her blessings. It was better to be thankful for what you had, rather than dwell on what you did not; something she thought she was learning. She might not have her memories or her old body but she did have some good friends. "Please don't feel so bad. I'm alive," she admitted, looking on the bright side, "I could be dead right now, but I'm not. So I should thank you."

_What? _The voice was confused._ But it's my fault that you ended up this way._

"I know, but thanks to that dream I know you were coming to Earth with good intentions. You only wanted to help." She wiped the tears from her face, "It's a lot to take in but I think I can do it. I'm not alone in this after all, am I?"

Her inner partner brightened up. _You most certainly are not. You won't ever be getting rid of me. I'll always be around. _

She grinned, "Like a friend I take everywhere." Her smile slipped away as she became thoughtful. "There really is no way to separate us? So why did you do it then? I mean, you risked giving up your own life when you took me into your mind and you _have_ lost your body thanks to me."

_That's right. There's no way to remove either of us from here now. Not without risking serious neural damage to the both of us. And,_ she hummed thoughtfully, _I guess I did it because Optimus and Jazz and then Elita One and her squad taught me a few things. Frag, they dug me out of the tough shell I had put on to shield myself. I had hidden myself away from the loss of my friend. I was always a bit of a tough person anyway but that really cut me deep. Then after that the rejection of the Autobots when I defected. I had been pretty cold. They changed me._ The voice confessed a little shamefully.

"Well at least I suppose I have an explanation for the voice in my head now. And it's _not_ that I'm crazy."

_Though I'm still not sure if people will believe this explanation either,_ her voice said, thinking of how the others might react.

"That's true," she agreed but decided to lay that aside for now. "Hey, so you knew the whole time, right? Maybe you could clear some stuff up for me."

_Sure. Now that you know, I don't have anything to gain by hiding anything._

"First, what do I call you now? I mean, you're the real Violetwind, not me. Like, I don't even know what to call myself. Victoria feels right and yet it doesn't represent who I am any more."

_How about this. You can still go by Violetwind, it'll save confusing the rest of the bots over names, and you can just call me Windy._

"Ok then, _Windy_," The femme grinned. "Right, second question. When I was seeking answers and tried to get them from Starscream – since you wouldn't tell me – how much do you think he really knew?"

_Enough. That's why I gave you the helmache. I was afraid that he'd worked it out and would give it away. I used to know him, you see. Rotten coward he was back then too but we respected one another for our scientific work before he tried to climb the Decepticon ranks and later also found out that his scientific work was actually on dark energon. He knew about my research into brainwaves, so I guess with you acting different he put two and two together. I know they say Screamer isn't the brightest of bots but he's not a complete dumb aft either. _

Violetwind nodded and rested back against the tree, closing her optics. Despite the craziness of the fact that she used to be human and was now sharing a brain with a robotic alien, she felt more at peace. Her questions of what had happened and what was wrong with her had been answered. Now that she knew, she no long felt burdened by everything that was strange about her, about why some things had not felt quite right.

Silently the pair of beings rested, listening to the night sounds of the forest around them. Crickets chirped. Leaves rustled lightly in the breeze. Even an owl hooted out its song to the world.

The purple femme broke the quiet as her optics opened and she asked, "Humans have parents. I bet my parents are worried. I mean I just up and disappeared! I hope they won't be too upset about me being gone... Not like I could go see them again anyway..."

_Don't concern yourself over it too much, Vi. You didn't live with your parents, so they won't have immediately noticed your disappearance. _

"But what will they do when they do realise?"

_Not sure but maybe when we get in contact with Agent Fowler we can get him to do something about it. I'm sure he could come up with a good excuse. _

"Well, that's ok I suppose..." she sighed sadly.

_Something still the matter?_

"Yeah, I just wish I could have an idea of what they looked like, of what I used to look like."

_Perhaps that's another thing we could arrange with Agent Fowler when we get out of this mess... _

"This mess..." the femme groaned. They were baseless and had no way to contact the other Autobots. Ratchet was right when he said things looked hopeless.

"Ratchet! Oh gosh we should probably get back to him!"

_Can't we just leave the old slag there? He wasn't exactly in the best of moods when we left._

"No, we can't. I don't think Optimus would approve of that," standing up, she stretched the stiffness from her limbs and wiped away any remaining tears.

_Well fine then. Don't expect to go back and have a warm welcome though._ Windy replied sourly.

Darkness had descended upon the land long ago and with it hopefully the human population. Making her way out of the forest, Violetwind transformed down, flicking on her lights. Leaving her solitude behind the femme headed back to where she had left the old Autobot medic, having been away far too long.

* * *

And we find out things! So many answers! Hopefully it answers a lot of the questions the story has been building up to. But how is everyone else going to deal with it?  
So did you see it coming? Did anyone suspect anything? If you did, what was it that tipped you off? I'd love to hear from you!


	19. Chapter 19

And Violet heads back to Ratchet but it's not all roses.

* * *

Chapter 19

The road back to the junkyard was empty allowing for a quiet drive back to where Violetwind had left the old medic. Driving through the entrance she did not notice the human walking by who gave the car a strange glance. He had gotten a glimpse through the window and could have sworn there was no driver. This curious young man decided to follow unbeknownst to the Bot.

Slowly the femme rolled through the wrecked vehicles, searching for the familiar ambulance. "Ratchet?" she called out in a whisper, "Ratchet, where are you? I'm back and you don't have to worry any more."

_That is if he even was worried,_ Windy commented dryly.

"I'm sure he was at least somewhat concerned," she muttered quietly.

A scoff came from nearby, "Hrmph, concerned for your mental health." The orange and white medic rolled forward, transforming in front of her. He did not look happy.

_See. What'd I tell ya. Not a warm welcome in sight. _

The femme quietly shushed her inner counterpart.

_Hey, it's not like he can hear me._

_Well I can and you're awfully distracting. You think you can say so much more just cause I know what you are now?_

_Basically. Yep._ she replied smugly.

Violetwind let out a soft sigh in defeat.

"Are you just going to sit there?" questioned Ratchet sharply, his optics narrowed.

"Hi, Ratchet," she squeaked under his scrutinising glare, not feeling up to transforming and having to actually look into his optics.

"What do you think you were doing running off like that?" he scolded. "What if the Deceptions had tracked you down. Then where would you be?"

"Please don't be mad at me. I needed some time to sort myself out," she stared to explain.

"Listen here-" a small sound cut him off, one not caused by either of the Bots.

That human who had followed Violetwind into the junkyard out of curiosity had heard the voices and come looking but tripped over a piece of scrap metal.

Ratchet looked down at him in shock, the young man staring up at him with much the same expression. After a few moments the frozen state broke. Shattering the moment, the medic made a noisy run for it, while the human quickly pulled out his phone.

"Nobody will ever believe this," he muttered as he snapped a blurry photo of the fleeing mech. Picture taken, the man dashed off.

Violetwind was never more thankful to have remained in vehicle mode than she was at that moment. They did not need the human to see two giant robots. She was also thankful for her darker colour too, making her harder to notice. It also meant the man had not realised just who or what Ratchet was talking to.

After the human had left and was well out of earshot, the femme trailed after the the medic. The orange and white bot had returned to his ambulance mode hiding among the wrecked cars.

"Ratchet! Now look what you've done. We didn't need that," she whined.

"Hmph," he grumbled in return. "Maybe if you hadn't wandered off it wouldn't have happened."

"But my time proved to be invaluable."

This earned some interest from him. "How so?"

Violetwind quickly explained about the events regarding the original Violetwind's crash to Earth and the mind transfer. She did her best to tell him about how he must have been able to detect Windy in her brain scans and their split consciousness.

When she was done she sat quietly, afraid of how he had taken it. The mech showed no signs of responding.

"Ratchet? Please don't just sit there... Say something..."

"Ok fine... I think you've been on the high grade! I know you've been complaining about a voice in your head but this is crazy! Human and Cybertronian minds cannot mix! It's impossible!"

Taken back by his harshness, the femme rolled away a little. "But, it's true..."

"You've really gone off the deep end," he muttered. "Maybe I should have seen this coming with the damage to your neural network. I should have done something to prevent it..."

"But I'm not crazy!" she protested. "Tell me how to prove it and I will!"

The mech spluttered, "Ugh, if you wish to peruse this wild endeavour, fine."

"Good, what will you have me do?"

He thought for a while before replying. "Answer some questions for me then."

"Ok, ask away."

Knowing that the femme had said she had no memory of the crash he went with the obvious. "The ship you arrived to earth in, was it an Autobot one?"

_I arrived in a stolen Deceptions ship._

"No. It was stolen from the 'Cons."

"Hmm," he had not really been expecting her to answer that. It still did not prove much, she could have just regained her memories. Speaking again he posed another question. "What was in the ship's data files?"

_Nothing, I deleted them soon after impact. With a wrecked ship the 'Cons could track I knew they would be coming sooner or later and I could not let them get them. I didn't want to risk the 'Cons tracking where I'd come from. I didn't want to compromise Elita One and the rest of the squad's safety. They're safe where they are now, on another plant in a distant galaxy where I left them. And the plans Megatron was looking for on there never existed in the ship's data banks,_ her inner counterpart replied.

"There wasn't anything in them. Not after Windy landed anyway. She deleted the files."

"Why?"

"Because she didn't want the Decepticons to find out where she'd come from. She left Elita One and her group back on another planet and didn't want them to find out where they were. I believe Megatron had suspected the ship might have carried files of the weapon plans and when he couldn't find them came after me but apparently they were never there."

_That's because, although I may have stolen them when I left the 'Cons, I destroyed them soon after. _

The femme inwardly grinned in amusement.

Ratchet was not pleased though, grunting in annoyance, coming up with something else to ask her. "Humph. How do you explain you transformation troubles after you scanned an Earth vehicle?"

Windy gave her answer which the purple femme parroted for the mech, "Our neural network was still adjusting to the two separate consciousnesses and I did not have a good enough mental connection with my body at the time, neural pathways were still forming then. It was most likely just a bit too soon to try something that physically taxing, but it worked out in the end so I guess it's ok."

The old medic did not like this. She had explained everything he asked of her and yet to him it still did not compute. He still could not believe this was possible. From what little he knew of humans, he understood that their minds were complex, perhaps more so than a Cybertronian's one. The information in their brains is surly not easy to transfer if it were even remotely possible.

Violetwind started to grow nervous as the mech sat there without a response. Eventually she broke the silence, "Well?"

"Well what?" he snapped back.

"Um, well, do you believe me?"

Ratchet pondered this for a moment before he replied. "I still don't see how this is possible. I don't believe it could be done."

"But I'm giving you the explanation to your scan anomaly! You're supposed to be a scientist! They're supposed to be open minded about new things!"

_Slag, what's it take for him to get this through his fragging mind!_

"But I don't believe the science of this even exists!"

_Well guess what, it does, Ratchet! What he really wouldn't believe is some of the horrors that occurred in the Deception laboratories! Now that stuff would give even the Wreckers nightmares!_

"Fine then. I guess there's no need to continue this conversation any longer. We obviously can't see things on the same page..." reversing her wheels span briefly on the dirt before she gained traction and left the mech, a heavy feeling in her spark. Driving away she found her own spot on the junkyard to be alone.

Turning off her lights she sighed in defeat, "That went well..."

_What'd ya expect from 'Mr sunshine' over there?_

"I donno. Guess I thought things would go better than they did... What if no one else believes me either? Where does that leave us?"

_Hopefully at least with a team because it means they're alive and we're back together._

"Yeah... I hope everyone's ok..."

~oOo~

Sunrise came and went, bringing out the humans from their houses and off to work, including those who worked at the junkyard. Violetwind kept herself to the back of the yard, away from the humans. She also stayed away from Ratchet as well, not desiring to see him. It was not like they could talk while people were around anyway. The night's run in with the man was enough and they hoped nobody else would come investigating.

The day went by quickly, night soon arriving again. Even so, Violetwind still did not move from her place. If Ratchet wanted to talk, he could come to her not the other way around. After all she already had company; Windy was keeping her occupied with stories of both their pasts between short naps, telling her all about her own family (which she could no longer remember herself) and Windy's past friends. In particular her inner companion spoke a lot about her own past with Elita One's squad. She took her time telling Violetwind about each of them and explaining the dreams she had with them.

_Elita One was the femme in pink. She was a great leader. Wise but caring, like Optimus. The blue one was Chromia. She was our second in command. The one with light green colouring was Moonracer. She is the youngest of the group with a bubbly personality. Then there's Greenlight. I bet you can guess what colour she was. And there was Firestar. She was the red and orange one. And finally, our flier, the silver and blue femme, Coriolis. We were rather lucky to have her. Being a jet she came in handy for scouting as well as having aerial support. _

_That dream you had, it was back when we were amidst the war. It was a tough time. We were fighting our afts off to protect the energon carrier. Con's didn't like that we'd taken what might have been the last largest deposit of energon left on the planet. We desperately needed it for the _Ark_, a ship to carry most of the Bots off world. We needed to live somewhere else until Cybertron could support life once again. Megatron... _Violetwind felt anger roll off her companion, like a volcano coming to a boil. _Megatron killed our planet. _

After a moment Windy managed to contain her fury and kept going with the story, _The energon carrier was under heavy fire and at that time we were doing our best to stop the Decepticons from taking it. The part you saw in the dream was when we were being beaten back and had to regroup. After that we set off again to try, fighting them off for a little while but then-_ she stopped mid-sentence as a small shout cut through the night.

Amidst the usual quietness of night, the femme thought a small shout had called, yelling out the Autobot medic's name. This puzzled her. _Who would do that?_

Driving toward the sound out of curiosity, she indeed heard someone talking. "...it's me, Raf. Uh, Ratchet?"

It was Bumblebee and Rafael, the former sporting a new paint job where his colours had been reversed so that he was now more black than yellow.

"Go away," the old mech grumbled.

Bumblebee knelt down, beeping at him. '_Why would we do that?'_

"You're interrupting my power down, that's why," he returned sharply.

The boy and car shared a look between them, the latter whirring, _'What's gotten up his tailpipe?'_

Rafael tried again to talk with the medic, "Come on, Ratchet. We need your help to find the others."

"Well, you don't need to come look for me," Violetwind called out, driving up and transforming to stand beside the scout. Lifting her arms, she stretched out the kinks that came with remaining in vehicle mode for so long.

_'Violet! It's good to see that your ok,'_ trilled Bumblebee happily.

"It's good to see you too, Bee," she gave him a strained smile. Looking down at her pedes her gaze softened as her optics fell on the boy. Leaning over she extended a hand for him to climb onto, which he did. Bringing him to her chest for a hug she murmured, "I'm glad to see that your here and safe."

"Me too." Rafael grinned and the femme put him down.

"How did you find us?" she asked curiously, wondering how they were able to track them down without the base's scanners.

The young human adjusted his glasses as he replied, "I found a photo of Ratchet online."

"Well, at least that was good for something," she muttered, knowing it must have been that man that had caught them the previous night.

The ambulance merely grunted.

_'And you don't have to worry about it being around any more either. Raf made sure to scrub it after we'd found it,'_ Bumblebee added.

"So what are we doing now then?" the femme asked.

_'We've got to get back together to stop Megatron.'_ The scout made a show of raising his fist in defiance.

"We can't stop Megatron! Not any more. The war is over. And we, lost..."

Rafael turned to yell in disbelief at the white and orange mech. "You're giving up?! We can't just give up!"

Transforming, Ratchet glared down at the boy, waving his arms in frustration. "Then tell me what we can do! Without communications, without a ground bridge, without a base of operations or resources of any kind!"

_'Starscream survived out here on his own.'_ Bumblebee countered.

"Bee's right! We know Starscream had access to a ground bridge while he was operating solo," the young human's eyes rolled around as he laid out his thoughts, not happy with the way Ratchet was responding.

"That's right, that ship," Violetwind agreed, remembering her brief visit there a short while ago.

"Yes, yes," he grumbled, nodding his head and looking about with disinterest, "He'd clearly been using the derelict Decepticon ship the _Harbinger_. What does that have to do with anything?"

The young human appeared to be loosing patience with the stubborn mech, his tone uncharacteristically snappy. "It could be full of Cybertronian tech and it's probably abandoned again now that Starscream's back with the Cons."

The Bot responded with an annoyed splutter. "Well resources won't be of much use, not without someone to... lead us..." His shoulders sagged in defeat, optics closed.

"It's a start!"

"Then you'll have to start without me!" Ratchet growled, not wanting any part of it. Things were bad enough as it was an he had no desire to get further involved in anything. "This is someone else's fight now."

"There _is_ no one else, Ratchet! Just us! Just the team!" he indicated to himself, Violetwind and Bumblebee.

The mech only shook his head. "Please..." He turned his back to them, returning to vehicle mode, "Just let me... Rust in peace."

Violetwind glanced between Ratchet and the boy, who's shoulders were drooped in defeat. She did not understand why Ratchet was being so stubborn. Did he not see that they needed him?

_He needs a good kick in the aft._

She let out a short vent of air in amusement. The thought of someone giving Ratchet a kick in the rear bumper helped lift her spirits, even if it was by the smallest amount.

"Come on, Bee, Vi," the boy muttered walking away from the old medic.

Letting out a whir of comfort, Bumblebee transformed into his vehicle mode and let Rafael climb in.

The femme started to follow when she paused to rest her optics on Ratchet. "I really wish we could have persuaded you to see the truth. I may not have been through this war like you have but I'm not about to let this be the end. We do have the ability to do something and I'm not about to give up on my home."

Turning she left the mech, transforming into her alternate mode. "Come on guys, let's get out of here and get a start on things."

Bumblebee honked his horn in agreement and together they left for the _Harbinger_.

The drive to the Decepticon ship was a long one, during which, Violetwind took the time to explain about who she was and how she came to be within Windy's body. Unlike Ratchet, who was quick to dismiss her as crazy, they were much more welcoming to the idea.

"Woah, that's... That's incredible! A mind transfer, it's like something straight out of a science fiction film," the boy uttered in awe.

"Yeah, that's what I first thought. But it certainly explains a lot. Like the voice in my head and the help she gave me during fights."

_Hey, I certainly didn't want to die too you know._

_'So what do we call you now? Shall we use your old name?'_

"No, no," she chuckled, "Violet or Violetwind is fine. Windy and I already agreed on that. I'm not exactly used to my old name anyway."

"So do you think Starscream knows what happened?" asked Rafael.

"We don't know for sure. I'm told Starscream knows about some of her old experiments and we _believe_ he may have put it together..."

_'If he has worked it out, what if her tells Megatron?'_ Bumblebee whirred with concern.

"What's he going to do with the knowledge anyway? What purpose would it serve? Megatron doesn't exactly like people anyway, why would he want to put them in Cybertronian bodies?"

_To grow his army. Making bodies is much simpler than creating life. And I'm sure kidnapping humans already well versed in combat, would greatly aid him._

"Oh gosh..." The femme understood how devastating such knowledge could be, to not only the humans but also the Autobots, if Megatron could of pull off such a thing. "Windy says he could use it to add to his ranks using combat trained humans."

"We can't let him do that!"

_Tell Raf that he won't have to worry. I'm the only one who knows how to perform it and I'm never going to tell a soul. Not even a cortical psychic patch could get it because it patches into your half of the neural network not mine._

"That's good news," she muttered, letting out a vent of relief. Speaking up she told the other's, "You don't have to worry about it happening. Megatron's not going to find out how it's done. Ever. Full stop. Windy is the only one who knows how to do it and she's not telling."

_'What about if they use a patch?'_

"Not even then. She says that it only goes into my half of our brain and if I don't know, no one else can find out."

_And I'll never tell you because such a thing should never be performed again. This I vow. The repercussions are too great and not something that should be done. I realise that now, it's not at all ethical. _

~oOo~

The rest of the drive to the _Harbinger_ was spent discussing what they were going to do. Mostly it involved figuring out what on the ship they could use and what they would do with it to get Team Prime – minus Ratchet – back together.

Arriving at their destination, Bumblebee let out his passenger before both Bots transformed. Violetwind and Rafael were viewing the crashed Decepticon ship for the first time, both just looking over it with curiosity. The wreck lay half in the cliff side at an angle, the ships design of spikes adding to its ominous appearance.

"So this is going to help us out?" The femme looked unconvinced.

_'We won't know until we find out.'_

"C'mon, guys. I'm sure we'll find something. We can't give up hope. Earth's counting on us." Raf encouraged, looking up at the pair.

"You're right, let's check it out."

Entering the wreck they warily explored, being careful just in case the Decepticons had decided to return. Going through each room, dark from the lack of power to light it, they found no enemies but neither did they find anything of much value; just a small amount of energon.

Something they did stumble across was the ship's processor.

"If we can get this up and running, perhaps we can use its ground bridge," suggested the pre-teen.

Violetwind shrugged, "It's worth a try."

Together they worked to get the place up and running, mostly under Rafael and Windy's direction. Bumblebee was just plugging in what they hoped would be the final cord before they could have some power. Meanwhile Violetwind installed the last energon container into the same device. Three containers of energon lined its top surface, each only half full.

The mech whirred, giving Rafael a thumbs up that they were ready.

"Hold it right there, Bee," the boy replied from atop the monitor's keyboard. He jumped around pressing the keys and touched the screen as he did his best to get it running.

For a moment the lights came on, flickering brightly before the power shut off, leaving them in the dark once again.

Letting out a long sad tone, the scout dropped the cord he was still holding. In his disappointment, his shoulders slumped and door wings dropped.

Much like the mech, Violetwind's door wings sagged, showing how let down she felt by the failure. Leaning against the power source she muttered, "Well that didn't go to plan..."

"Keep trying. We'll figure it out," the young human encouraged. He started to reach for the screen again when he was stopped by a voice.

"Ep ep ep!"

Turning towards the doorway, the trio caught sight of their intruder. Smiles of joy and hope brightened eyes and optics, door wings perking with excitement and disbelief.

_'You came!' _Bumblebee started forward to greet Ratchet.

"You're miss calibrating the energon transducer," the mech replied not acknowledging him.

"Ratchet!" cried out the young human happily, raising his hands briefly in a cheer.

"We're glad to have you here," the femme added warmly.

"Yes, yes," he muttered pushing the predominantly black mech out of his path, "Now step out of my way so I can work."

Raf complied, jumping back and off the controls. However, he could not stop himself from smiling up at the medic.

Even the old bot himself was unable to stop a slight smile lighting up his optics.

Walking over, the purple femme asked tentatively, "So does this mean you believe me?"

Glancing her way before turning his attention to the screens, he replied gruffly, "I believe it warrants further investigation. But..." he paused, not taking his focus from his work, "I _might_ be willing to give your explanation a chance..."

* * *

Ugh, Ratchet whyyy! Ok, well, I suppose if someone came to me with a story like that I would be doubtful too.  
Had to re-write a lot of Vi and Ratch's conversation as she tries to convince him. I think I came out better though, but still not completely happy with it...


	20. Chapter 20

Not much to stay today, so enjoy a longer chapter!

* * *

Chapter 20

Some time had gone by after Ratchet's arrival and the bots plus Rafael, had worked on getting the ships systems in order. The power was now functional and the lights were on.

"Mainframe's up and running," the boy stated, happy with their progress, "but I'll need help hacking the operating codes."

Ratchet's demeanour was not so positive, "Even if the ground bridge proves functional, it'll be next to worthless without a means of pinpointing the current locations of our compatriots."

Sitting down, leaning against the wall, Violetwind spoke wistfully, "Isn't there a way we could find them or something?"

_'Yeah, can't we just scan for their signals?'_ chirped the scout.

"Tsk, use your head!," snapped the medic, "If the Decepticons had the ability to track Autobot signals we'd all have been at Megatron's mercy here on Earth a long ago."

Raf sighed in disappointment, "Back where we started..."

This time it was Ratchet who was holding a slight hopefulness. "But not if I can reconfigure these Decepticon frequencies. At the very least we might be able to access their comm link."

"You really think so?" The femme questioned.

"We shall see..."

It was not long before Ratchet had accomplished just that. He had hacked into the Decepticons own comm link frequencies, much to the delight of the femme. Rafael and Bumblebee were currently keeping watch and so were not there to join in the accomplishment.

"Who do we contact first?" Violetwind asked excitedly, practically bouncing on her pedes beside the console.

"I believe our first action should be to contact Agent Fowler. With everyone scattered he is our point of call," Ratchet concluded. "Though we must be careful not to talk long lest the Decepticons notice that we are using their own communications."

The medic quickly dialled up their liaison, a the telephone rang a few times before the call was answered.

**::**What is it this time 'Lord' Megatron?**::** answered the agent, not sounding at all happy.

"Agent Fowler, it's Ratchet," he replied quickly.

"And Violetwind!" the femme added.

A female voice on the other side of the line, sounded frantic, **::**Ratchet? Where's Jack? Is he with you?**::**

"No, he is not," the mech replied bluntly, yet with a hint of sadness.

"Don't worry, June, he's with Arcee and she'll take care of him. I'm sure they're fine," she tried to comfort the worried mother.

**::**You're right and I know she can. I just don't like this.**::**

"Listen we don't have much time," Ratchet broke in before their talk went on further. "I have taken a tremendous yet calculated risk in contacting you. Hopefully the Decepticons are not monitoring their own frequencies as closely as they no doubt are those of the humans. I am transmitting our current coordinates."

Bumblebee unexpectedly leaped into the room, pointing outside and beeping hurriedly. _'Something's coming! Looks like a space vessel!'_

The mech turned to look at him in shock, "What?!"

Agent Fowler tried to question him further, **::**Ratchet, have you heard from anyone else? What about Prime?!**::**

But he had ended the call before answering, instead headed outside to investigate, Violetwind hot on his heels.

A large aircraft was flying their way. It was mostly blue with some red points and not at all like any human made aircraft. In particular, it's shape was very different; a central module made up its main form and was flanked by large thrusters.

Not certain of its intent, Bumblebee paused to put a hand in front of Raf to stop the boy. _'Wait here. It could be dangerous.'_

Dust had kicked up as it got closer to the ground, the young human already having to hold his arms up because of the wind. He nodded, staying back as the others went forward.

Nervously, the purple femme brought out her guns, prepared in case they were attacked, but she too soon found the winds and dust too much, raising an arm over her helm. To her left and mirroring her action were the two mechs. Neither one seemed as nervous as she was about the new arrival though. One of them seemingly recognising it.

"It's one of ours," Ratchet uttered in amazement.

Violetwind looked over at him, "You mean it's an Autobot?"

"Yes," he returned, trying not to take his optics off the ship as it landed in front of them.

Touching down on the ground, a section of the ship started to lower. Descending from the platform were some familiar faces. Miko and Jack stood at the front, the former looking as smug as always. With them were Bulkhead, Arcee and a white mech with red and green on his chest. There may have been someone else but the purple femme could not see them properly.

Her attention was taken off the new bots as Miko cried out happily, "Raf!" and raced toward the younger boy.

Reaching him, she scooped him up in a tight hug and whirled around. Rafael did not mind though smiling widely and chuckling in slight awkwardness but mostly filled with delight, just glad to know they were alive and safe.

Jack had trailed behind her at a more leisurely pace, smirking at the sight, "Girl's got a grip doesn't she?" Extending a hand the boys slapped palms with one another, Jack then bent down for a hug as well.

The scene in front of her brought warmth to Violetwind's spark. It was a touching reunion between friends. Though, her gaze quickly turned to the other Autobots as they too stepped forward, ready for a reunion themselves.

"You're alive," Ratchet said breathlessly, some of the weight on his spark dropping away. Not able to have contact with them he had worried him more than he liked to let on.

As the arrivals walked over they revealed the bot that Violetwind had thought she saw hidden behind them. The mech was very tall, and mostly blue but also carried red in his colour scheme. Something she also noted was that he looked extremely serious.

Ratchet was surprised to see the mech, "Ultra Magnus..."

"Doctor," the other acknowledged with a slight nod.

"Bee, who are those guys?" the femme whispered.

_'Well the-'_

"Violet!" Bulkhead yelled, running over and scooping the femme up in a tight hug, much like his human partner did to Rafael.

"Hi, Bulk," she squeezed out. Reaching out her arms as best she could to return his hug.

"Careful, Bulk. You don't want to break her," chided Arcee with a smirk.

The mech continued to hug her for a few more seconds before he released Violetwind and she stumbled briefly, taking a few deep vents.

"I'm fine," she assured them. "Hey, Arcee."

"Hey, I didn't know you had another femme on your team," the unfamiliar white mech commented as he walked over.

"Jacky, this is Violetwind. She arrived on Earth not long back. Violet, meet Wheeljack," the green mech introduced.

"Ah, the Wrecker," she nodded recognising his voice from earlier, when he called in during the attack on the base.

He grinned, pleased that she knew of them, "Pleased to meet ya. So what's going on around here?"

_'We've been getting the _Harbinger_'s systems up and running,' _the scout informed them.

Violetwind glanced nervously at Bumblebee but decided that telling them the truth about what she was could wait. They had better things, more important things in her optics, to discuss than a human having been incorporated into a Cybertronian mind.

Noticing her discomfort, the scout started to show off his new colours, hoping no one else would catch the femme's unease. He whirred at the others, _'So what do you think of my new looks?'_

"New paint job looks good, Bee," Bulkhead complimented, taking in the mech's new colouration.

"At least you had something to work with. If I reversed _my_ colours, I'd be pink," Arcee remarked.

"Pink's not such a bad colour," Violetwind muttered, quite liking the colour herself.

Bumblebee chirped playfully towards the blue femme, _'I don't think you'd look to bad in pink.'_

The conversation went on without the purple femme, her mind elsewhere. While glancing around she noticed Ratchet talking with the mech he had called Ultra Magnus. Realising she had not been introduced to him yet, she left the others to wander over, listening to the mechs converse.

"... The communications link needs further calibration to be compatible with Autobot frequencies. The ground bridge, however, is fully operational," Ratchet was telling the tall mech.

The children had walked over that way as well. Upon hearing that news, Miko interrupted the bots, her hands placed on her hip as she looked up at them, "That would have come in handy when robo dragon was trying to eat us for breakfast."

Jack had tried to stop the girl, waving his hand at his side, but of course it had not worked.

Ratchet could only gaze at the girl with horror, but Violetwind could not work out the reasons behind the two acting the way they did. Miko was acting like Miko, interruptions were part of her character.

_Ultra Magnus is a very by the book commander,_ Windy supplied. _He's very particular about they way things are to be addressed and dislikes anything out of protocol._

_Ah, I see._

"The indigenous population of this planet, do they all display the same disregard for authority?" he questioned.

The medic shook his helm, gesturing to the girl. "No, mostly just Miko."

"Wait," the femme turned to the girl just realising something about what she had said, "A robo dragon?"

"Oh yeah!" Miko was excited, throwing her arms about in the air as she talked. "You shoulda seen it! It was huge and could breath fire! We even brought down a mountain on top of it and it still kept going!"

Rafael's eyes were wide with shock from what she told them. "A real dragon?"

The femme quickly questioned, "Where did it come from?"

"What's a dragon?" Ratchet raised an optic ridge in confusion.

"A giant, flying, fire breathing lizard," Miko offered as an explanation to the 'Bot.

Jack nodded, "It was pretty impressive but I don't know where it came from."

_Sounds like... Sounds like one of Shockwaves' creations._

"So it was from the 'Cons..." she muttered.

"What was that?" Ultra Magnus asked the femme.

She jumped in fright, not expecting to be addressed. Glancing up at his optics she felt rather intimidated. "N-nothing."

"Nothing, _Sir_," he stated warningly.

Holding in the shake that threatened to take over her legs, she replied, "Y-y-yes... Sir."

"Ultra Magnus, this is Violetwind," Ratchet introduced before the situation could get more awkward.

"Violetwind, I believe I recognise that designation. You were assigned to Elite One were you not?"

Slowly she nodded, "Yes, Sir. Well... Sort of. Um. Well you see, there's more to me... Um..."

The commanding mech raised an optic ridge.

"Violetwind has suffered some memory loss and so cannot recall much of her past," Ratchet explained to the mech, doing his best to smooth over her strange behaviour.

"I see..."

Just then a plane came in over the horizon bringing their conversation to a halt. Ultra Magnus sprang into action. A gun revealed itself from each arm as he moved forward to attack.

Realising who it was, the medic called out in alarm, "No!"

Bulkhead and Arcee also tried to stop him, jumping in front of the mech, arms outstretched.

"Don't shoot!" cried out the femme.

The green mech added, "It's Fowler! He's with us!"

The human had promptly received their coordinates and hurried to meet with them. The plane landed and Mrs. Darby and Agent Fowler climbed out. The woman and children quickly involved in a hug-filled reunion.

Ignoring the others for now, Violetwind went to the medic and whispered, "I thought you were starting to believe me..."

"I don't think now's the time to be talking about your condition," he replied. Seeing how hurt she looked, he sighed, "Listen I'm trying. Belief is hard for something I am still finding hard to wrap my processor around. "

"I wouldn't have believed dragons were real until today," she countered, "But I believe Miko because she said she saw it."

He took in a deep intake of air. "Just give me some time."

They did not get to talk further as Agent Fowler approached eager to discuss the situation with them. "This everyone? Where's Prime?"

"The only signals Ultra Magnus was able to isolate are standing right here," Arcee told him, mostly able to hide the disappointment in her voice.

Wheeljack grumbled in a low tone so the commander's audios would not hear, "Maybe his scanner's faulty."

"So the kid's also unaccounted for," Bulkhead summarised. He had liked Smokescreen too despite all the trouble he caused. To have lost him, along with Optimus, it affected him more than he let on.

"Smokescreen..." The femme whispered in fear. The news cutting her spark deeper than anyone else. To have lost both her best friend and caring leader, it was not something she wanted to comprehend.

"Smokescreen bridged out unaccompanied to another part of the continent and Optimus remained behind to destroy the ground bridge to... Ensure that everyone else made it to safety," Ratchet informed them sadly.

Agent Fowler looked strained from the news. "I... Watched the base go down. No one or thing walked outta there."

"Not that we could see," June added, walking up beside the man.

"Even if Prime survived, I'm not sure we can afford to wait for him to show up. Not with Megatron holding our planet hostage from his high and mighty perch at Darkmount," the liaison continued.

Ultra Magnus spoke up, "I would be inclined to agree with the native life form. We must stop Megatron, with, or without Optimus Prime."

Silence settled over the group taking in the implications of it all. Things looked bleak, the unknown fates of their team mates weighed heavily on their minds but so did the fate of the Earth if they did nothing. As they looked at one another they came to a consensus. They knew they would fight with all that they could against the Decepticon's tyranny.

"We must do everything in our power to ensure Megatron's downfall but we will need to be smart about it," the tall blue mech declared.

Wheeljack protested as he seemed to take over, "Woah, who put shoulder-pads in command?"

Standing beside him, Arcee shrugged.

"Temporary command," Jack reminded them, hopeful that Optimus was still alive and would return.

"Ultra Magnus is the only logical choice. He's trained by Optimus and served as his commanding officer throughout the war for cybertron," Ratchet explained, mostly for the benefit of those who had not been around during the war and were unaware of the mech's reputation.

"Now, unless there is any further objections, _soldier_, please follow me," Ultra Magnus looked pointedly at the white mech. After a pause, he turned around and headed into his ship.

The rest of the group trailed after him, Wheeljack doing so grudgingly. "Aye, aye, Cap'n."

Aboard the ship the commander turned to them, "Autobots," he pressed a button which slid open a panel revealing a well stocked arsenal, "take your pick."

The previously grumpy white mech now carried a grin on his face. He was clearly pleased, optics gazing upon the new toys. "Now you're speaking my language... Sir..."

Ultra Magnus let out a soft grunt but did not otherwise respond.

Poking at the black and yellow scout, Violetwind whispered, "Are we really thinking about assaulting the ginormous, heavily guarded, well armed Decepticon tower?"

_'Yep.'_

"Ok then. Just checking..."

The femme let out a soft groan. _Great..._

~oOo~

A short while later they were gathered on the _Harbinger_ ready to discuss their options on how they would go about taking down Darkmount.

"Autobots, we remain vastly outnumbered and despite our munitions, do not currently posses the fire-power necessary to compromise the Decepticon citadel," Ultra Magnus stated plainly.

Agent Fowler replied, "Uncle Sam's military does. I just can't let 'em make a move as long as Megatron's ray guns are pointed at Washington."

"Then we must infiltrate Darkmount in order to nullify its fusion cannons," the commander declared.

The medic looked grim. "Unfortunately, it seems the fortress is heavily shielded against unauthorised ground bridges, even those originating from Decepticon technology." He glanced over at the screen showing the schematic of Darkmount.

Wheeljack did not appear to mind, almost pleased. "Guess, we'll have to sneak past enemy lines, Wrecker-style."

Ultra Magnus narrowed his optics in displeasure. "I couldn't deal with 'Wrecker-style' back on Cybertron and I refuse to deal with it here."

The white mech let his optics angrily drift away, his jaw clenched as he groaned but did not otherwise respond.

"Now, we require a means of thinning the Decepticon ranks to even the odds if we're going to have any hope of completing this mission. Or even surviving it."

They started to discuss plans for doing just that, the talk going on without Violetwind. She had no ideas and was dreading, oh so dreading, the fight to come. The last two had not exactly turned out very well, after all.

_Hey, I think I might have an idea._ Windy quickly relayed her plan to the femme.

Violetwind's optics widened. It was incredibly risky and even more dangerous. _I could never do it... They'll never believe me and what if Starscream does know... _

_Sure you can. I'll be with you the whole time and be coaching you the whole way. Just tell the others. And we'll worry about that stupid seeker when we get there. _

She nervously cleared her vocalisers. Breaking into the discussion she called out.,"Um, guys, I might have an idea." Everyone's gaze rested on her making her even more nervous and a little more inclined to ramble on. "Well, it's- it's not my idea exactly... It, uh... Well it..."

"Don't tell me it's from...?" Ratchet asked not sure he wanted to know the answer.

The femme gave him a slight nod, leaving the rest of the bots and humans confused except for two. Rafael and Bumblebee shared a glance but kept quiet.

The medic merely placed a hand over his face. "Well go on anyway."

She repeated the clearing of her vocalisers before explaining it to them. "You see, the idea was for me to approach the citadel and turn myself over to the 'Cons. I know for certain Megatron still wants the knowledge I carry. And... If I was to go and say I wished to join them, they might be more receptive to me and I could help infiltrate the place..."

Wringing her fingers she waited for their response.

"No," Arcee jumped in quickly. "It's far too dangerous, especially for you. You don't have enough experience to go in alone. And you will be alone. We can't get to you if something goes wrong."

_'Arcee's right, you're not ready for this.'_ The scout chirped with concern.

"Vi, I'm sure there's a much better way to go about it," Bulkhead added, a rare moment of worry on his face.

Even Ratchet refused to send her, "No. You can't go. That plan is crazy and risky and reckless and..." He paused, closing his optics and letting out a sigh. "And just what Violetwind would do..."

Seeing at his change in demeanour, Violetwind realised the reason for it, her optics filling with hope. "Sooo...?"

He let out a deep vent, a small smile slipping onto his face."Yes, I do think I finally believe you."

This earned and excited smile from the femme, some of the tenseness of the situation momentarily forgotten.

Though the mech had remained quiet during the strange interaction, Ultra Magnus suddenly broke in demanding answers. "Just what is going on here?"

Ratchet turned to the commander, a little unsure of how to explain it. "Violetwind... is not a normal being."

_'She's pretty unique indeed!'_ whirred the voiceless mech encouragingly.

Arcee raised an optic arch. "Since when did she get so 'special.' Don't tell me Smokescreen's gotten into you're head."

"Um, no, not Smokescreen, he's not gotten in there. But um, something else did. And well, actually it happened the day I crashed to Earth or, well, the 'real' Violetwind did."

"Real Violetwind? What are you talking about? Who are you really? What did you do with her?" Miko narrowed her eyes and pointed her finger out at the femme suspiciously.

She raised her hands defensively. "Woah, um, it's nothing like that."

"Then what is it?" Arcee queried, arms folded and optic ridge raised suspiciously.

Violetwind glanced around at the 'Bots nervously. This wasn't exactly getting off to a good start. Her gaze rested on Raf, the boy waving at her to get closer. Moving her hand over to him, the boy climbed on and smiled up at her, making her feel better. Most importantly his care and presence helped to calm her nerves.

"Go on," he encouraged softly.

Carefully holding the human child she took a deep intake and started to explain. "I'm not fully Cybertronian. Well, physically I am, but not mentally. You see I was once a human. Violetwind crash landed on Earth and had seriously injured me to the point where I was dying from my wounds. She felt so bad for me that she decided to do the only thing that would save me."

"And she what, swapped bodies or something?" Miko interrupted, arms folded.

"Not exactly. More like she downloaded my brain into her body. It had a _few_ unintended side affects, like me being the one in control of her body and her being locked away with both our memories. But she's alive and can talk to me. And... it was her idea to surrender to Megatron..." The purple femme gazed down at the boy, too afraid to look upon the other's faces.

"You're kidding, aren't you?" Arcee did not believe her audios.

"Wow that's rad! What were you like, Vi? How old were you? Where did you live? How did she do it?" Miko bombarded her with questions in her usual Miko way.

Meanwhile Bulkhead muttered raising a hand to his helm, "This has been some day..."

"I can't tell you much," she told the girl, "Like I said, I don't have access to my past memories and I can't tell you anything about how Windy did it. She's vowed never to tell me. We don't want anyone else to know how it's done because it would be very dangerous."

The teen pouted in silence before blurting out, "Who's Windy?"

"Windy is the name I use to refer to the real Violetwind, since I needed to call her something." Looking over at Miko, the femme added, "But I do know this much. My name was Victoria and I was from Australia and I was twenty-three years of age."

"Hey is this why you like human movies?" Jack wondered, seeming to accept the idea.

Thinking for a moment, she nodded. "It could be. Makes sense why I seemed to know a little about them too."

Arcee was shocked. "Wait, you're actually buying this?"

"Ratchet, what is your take on the situation?" Ultra Magnus asked for the medic's advice.

"Hmm, well, I admit I was skeptical at first but I have come to believe her story. Two separate consciences does explain the anomalies in her brain scans."

Agent Fowler spoke up for the first time since she had explained things. "You're telling me that that ship we cleaned up killed someone?"

"Yes but I'm not really dead though... Just my human body..."

The man raised his hand to his face. "And what did you, er, _she_ do with the body?"

"She buried it. I can't tell you where but she could direct me if we went back there."

"Once this is over we'll have to consider that. We'll need to do something for your family. You do have a family don't you?"

"Yes. Um, actually we were hoping you could help with that and do something to explain my absence..."

Fowler groaned. This was all too much for him. Giant robots attacking was one thing but when they had the ability to actually steal human minds that was another thing entirely. How was he going to explain this to the higher ups? And now he had to track down her parents and tell them she would not be coming home as well.

"Violetwind," the gentle feminine voice drew her attention to June. "Don't you worry about anything. We're here for you." The woman had initially rejected the femme's story, just like the others, but woman' s intuition told her that Violetwind was being truthful and that some of the lack of belief from her fellow bots was hurting her. So the mother wished to offer some comfort, realising that it could not be easy adjusting to a new life like that.

"Thank you, June..." she smiled gratefully at the woman, her tense door wings relaxing a little. Looking back up at Ultra Magnus and Ratchet she asked, "About the idea, um, Sir. Am I to infiltrate Darkmount?"

Having been silently taking it all in, Wheeljack finally moved, slapping the purple femme on the back and startling her. If she had not automatically lifted her other hand over Rafael she may have accidentally dropped him. "If you do send her, you'll be sending in two for the price of one, _Sir_."

"Violetwind, are you up for the task?" The commander looked down at her with his stern gaze.

Honestly, she was doubtful. Her acting skills were not great and neither were her fighting skills if she ran into trouble. Could she really be of any use if she got inside?

_Hey. We can do this. Get me in there and I can tell you just what to do. I won't let you down. Those slagging 'Cons _must_ be stopped. _

Standing up straighter, the femme did her best to sound confident. "Yes, Sir. Just tell me what to do."

* * *

Anyone catch the almost 'more than meets the eye' reference? It's transformers, come on, how can one resist. XD


	21. Chapter 21

Le gasp! Second last chapter!

* * *

Chapter 21

Standing outside the towering structure that was the Decepticon citadel, Darkmount; Violetwind suddenly regretted taking on this assignment. The Autobots had come up with their plan and her part was the first to be played out. It had to be first if their enemies were to believe her.

Ratchet had ground bridged her to the area near Darkmount but not close enough for the Decepticons to detect the vortex's energy signature. From there she had driven up to the imposing structure and was now close enough to make herself known.

_You can do this, ok._ Windy encouraged. _Now you'd better make the final call in._

"Right," she muttered before comm linking back to the others. "I'm at the destination. About to see if they will accept me, Sir."

**::**Acknowledged.**::** Ultra Magnus replied.

**::**_Good luck, Vi_.**::** Bumblebee added.

Arcee also broke in. **::**Don't get yourself into trouble.**::**

**::**You got this**::** Bulkhead encouraged.

**::**We're believin' in ya.**::** came Wheeljack.

**::**Just make sure you come back to us.**::** Ratchet urged.

She smiled, "Thanks guys. It means a lot. Twenty minutes and counting, right?"

**::**Correct. Twenty minutes and we shall be thinning the armies.**::** Ratchet confirmed. **::**Till then, stay convincing.**::**

"I'll do my best. Violetwind out."

_Let's get this thing over with._

With a firm nod, she strode forward, doing her best to walk with confidence. It was not easy, the fortress was quite intimidating on its own and just the sight of it made her want to run and hide. But she kept her nerve in check. Just barely.

Getting close enough she raised her voice to a shout. "Megatron! I have come to surrender myself. I've come to rejoin the winning side! Let me humbly join you and I will share all the knowledge I have."

Near the top of Darkmount, sitting upon his throne, Megatron viewed his surveillance officers footage of the femme below. He regarded her suspiciously, pointed fingers caressing his chin. "Send some troops to escort her up. I want her to be kept under heavy guard in case she decides to try something."

Soundwave nodded. The third in command immediately sent out a message of their leader's orders to the vehicons.

"Master, do you suppose she really wishes to rejoin us?" The silver seeker stepped forward and questioned the mech.

"_You_ came back, Starscream..." the Decepticon leader growled, causing him to flinch and promptly shut him up.

At the base of the tower, Violetwind forced herself to take in deep even intakes of air in an attempt to stay calm and stop everything from shaking. Six vehicons had arrived, surrounding her. This was it, the point of no return.

"You have an audience with Lord Megatron," one of them told her.

The femme merely nodded in response, allowing them to lead her off. Her legs felt like they were jelly as she walked amongst the purple troops. Fear was constricting her chest almost to the point of pain in her spark. She was already starting to regret this plan and nothing had even gone wrong yet.

Realising that her overwhelming nervousness could blow it, Windy offered some help. _Try not to thing to think too much about it. Just keep calm and don't show fear when we get there. Grit your denta if you have to._

_My what?_

_Um, your teeth, the things in your mouth. Forgot you don't know much about our anatomy._

It did not take long before she was guided to the open room where the Decepticon leader sat atop his throne, the very place where he had claimed for himself to rule Earth. A position which he felt no one could take from him. Keeping her door wings from twitching, it was here that Violetwind came to be. Standing close enough to Megatron, she immediately kneeled, bowing her head in an effort to appear respectful to the warlord.

_Psst, your hand. _

She quickly realised what Windy was prompting, she moved her fist across her chest, presenting herself in submissive respect to Megatron. With her gaze to the ground the femme remained silent, waiting for him to speak first.

Megatron looked over her with interest. It certainly looked like she wished to join them, but he was not one to trust easily, if at all. "So, Violetwind... What brings you to me now?"

_Calm, easy now. Just remember the story._

"Lord Megatron, I am but your humble servant. I have returned to my rightful leader. I have had enough of scratching around in the dirt with the pathetic Autobots. With the Decepticons is where I belong, I realise this now," she replied, doing her very best to keep her voice under control as she repeated the prearranged words.

The silver seeker looked at her curiously. He had not told Megatron of his suspicions but now he was glad he had not. He was having doubts about them. She was not acting like the frightened thing he had met back in the gorge. Perhaps it had been a simple case of memory loss and the voice was just due to madness. Then again that did not explain her behaviour after he stole the keys...

Glancing at Starscream, the mech noticed that his second in command was deep in thought. He was curious as to why; mostly hoping it was not more fruitless plotting. Ignoring the seeker for the moment his red gaze rested on the femme. "And what makes you think I would allow to be a part of our fold once again?"

"For my original purpose, Master, to produce your weapons," she told him simply, sticking to her script.

Megatron raised an optic ridge. "And what makes you think I even need you?"

"Because no one can make them like I can and I know for a fact that Knock Out does not possess the ability to recreate my bombs. My Lord, I merely gave you plans for a malfunctioning prototype."

The mech's mouth twisted into a sly smirk. "Crafty, my dear." Rising from his throne he came to stand in front of her. "You still posses the qualities of a good Decepticon."

In response her spark beat quickened. Megatron's closeness frightened her, the femme gritting her denta to stop from showing it. She definitely did not dare to lift her gaze from the floor lest he see her optics shine with the horror she felt.

He slowly circled her, panic rising in her chest; fearing that he did not believe her and would kill her right then and there. The merciless leader was not beneath committing immediate executions. However, he did not, instead coming to stand in front of her again. "Rise, Violetwind. You are to resume your old rank as a scientist. I'm sure you will be pleased to know that we even have Shockwave back. You will be quiet an asset to him as his assistant."

The femme rose to her pedes, glancing at Megstron briefly, noticing that he was looking over her shoulder at something else. It was only then she noticed the sound of steps. Turning around she saw a purple mech with a single red optic instead of his face and a gun where his left hand would have been.

_That's Shockwave. Frag, I hope he's not still mad about what I did to his lab._

_Oh, you didn't think of this before?_ She responded, gritting her denta and managing to keep her face blank expect for her slightly widened optics.

_Ok, so I hadn't thought through everything. Shoot me._

"Violetwind, I had been informed of your presence on this planet. Your decision to return is most logical," the one eyed mech greeted in his own way.

"Of course, Shockwave," she replied her voice ever so slightly shaking, something she hoped they did not pick up on. Much to her relief though, nobody seemed to notice.

"I'm sure you are most anxious to get to work and prove yourself as a Decepticon once again, and so you shall get that chance. Knock Out will be grateful for your help at the present moment. He's down in the lab, some of the vehicons will escort you there." Megatron nodded to the troopers, who stepped forward ready to take her with them.

Bowing her head in respect, the femme spoke gratefully, "Thank you, Lord Megatron. You are most gracious." Stepping away, she raised her head and spoke confidently, "I will not fail."

He nodded and started to returned to his seat, seeming to be satisfied with her answer. However, before reaching it, Megatron turned to gaze upon her once again. "Before you leave. What can you tell me of the whereabouts of the other Autobots?"

Luckily they had been prepared for such a question allowing the femme to easily respond. "I can't tell you much at all, Lord Megatron. We bridged out the the base separately and I have not seen any of them since I last saw their medic. I do not know where they went."

The mech let out a low rumble in thought. "That is all. You may go."

Violetwind then promptly left with her escort to the laboratory in order to assist Knock Out.

Once she had gone, Starscream approached his master. "Are you sure that was wise?"

"Guards will be posted and she will not be left alone. Now is there anything else, Starscream?" The mech' s tone conveyed his annoyance with the second in command.

The seeker's optics narrowed as he turned away, "No, Lord Megatron. I will continue our search for the rest of the Autobots." Starscream hurried off but not to do the task he stated, in actuality he went after Violetwind.

The femme was surprised to hear the silver seeker's voice behind them. "Guards, you are dismissed, I will escort her myself."

"But, sir, Lord Megatron-" one of the vehicons started to protest.

"Listen here, drone. I am your commanding officer and you will do as I tell you! Now get going! I said I would be escorting her!" he yelled in the poor trooper's face.

"Yes, commander Starscream," he replied, before they all left.

The femme looked at him in confusion as he watched them leave around a corner. Once he was sure they were gone he turned to her, his optics narrowed. "You've changed again. What happened?"

_Glare back at him, speak roughly and ask him 'doesn't he like it?'_

Putting on the most hostile look she could muster, she did her best to come across as aggressive. "Why? Don't ya like it?"

He let out a low growl. "I don't understand you. What happened to your 'voice' and having lost your memories?"

"They came back that's what. And as for that voice it was nothing and it's gone now. So it's none of your business, Starscream."

"Don't you take that tone with me! I am second in command of the Decepticons!"

_Brush him off._

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I though you were taking me to Knock Out. What are we doing standing around here?"

_Good,_ Windy praised.

The mech huffed in indignation but was not able to get words out of his mouth causing him to huff again. Stomping a pede he quickly took the lead.

_Haha nice work. Just like I would have done. It's always so worth it to see Screamer shut up._

Catching up, she looked up at him, wishing to know the answer to a question. "Starscream, I guess you did not tell anyone about our encounter then? Also, what were your trying to ask me back on the _Harbinger_?"

The seeker glanced her way before staring back at the hall they were walking down. "No," he paused, debating about whether or not to admit to her what his question back then was. Eventually he responded, "I was going to ask what it was like having two minds. What is was like having someone else control your body while you were still conscious in it... I had thought you might have actually succeeded with your experiments in mind transfer."

Violetwind's spark quickened, quickly trying to brush it off. "Oh, those old things. You should know they went bust long ago. I do not believe such a thing is possible," she lied. They could not have it get out that it had worked and that she was not in fact the real Violetwind. It would put her at great risk.

"Hmm, I suppose so," he grunted.

They arrived at the laboratories inside the _Nemesis_, and were greeted by the red mech.

"Well, well, well. Look who's back. Just couldn't stay away could you."

_Say something bad about his paint job if you start to feel too threatened._

_How about now..._

"Just don't blow anything up you two," growled Starscream sourly, leaving them to get to work.

"So... Uh, where are those bombs?"

~oOo~

Knock Out had directed the femme to the Immobilizer bombs that he had been working on. She then replicated the blueprints which Windy helped her design. The plans were, once again, not exact plans but vitally flawed and hopefully too complicated for the Decepticons to figure out exactly what was wrong. They would be in a lot of trouble if their enemies were to gain such a weapon.

The pair worked in silence, which Violetwind actually appreciated since Windy was telling her what to do. The complicated work took most of her attention and she did not need someone else talking in her audios.

The silence could not go on forever and was inevitably broken by the flashy red mech. "You _have_ gotten these to work before, haven't you?"

"Of course," she replied, remembering the story Windy had briefed her on earlier. "They were never just never used. Mostly because I... er, blew up the lab..."

The mech looked at her in horror, taking a step back, worried about his precious paint job. "Don't tell me it was because of what you were working on!"

She genuinely smiled at his reaction, stifling a chuckle. "No. It was because I left the place. Changed sides and left a parting gift."

Knock Out grunted calming down. "Did you do the same to the Autobots then?"

_Didn't have to, 'Cons already covered that,_ Windy grumbled.

Deciding to copy her inner self she answered likewise. "I didn't have to. You already did that upon destroying the base."

"So what have you been doing since then? It _has_ been a few days."

It was again she was very glad they had prearranged a cover story. "We left the base in pairs. I was with that grump of a medic. He was such a bore to hang out with and would _not_ let up about Cybertron being left in ruin again. Finally I couldn't take it any more."

"You shot him?"

"Uh n-" she started to deny shooting him but thought better of it. Ratchet would not be joining in on the assault directly so would not be showing up to dispute her claim. "Yes, actually I did. So I left. Things had not been right with me there anyway. Optimus was just such a tight wad. And I couldn't do anything for myself."

Before the mech could reply an announcement came over the _Nemesis_' comm system. It was Starscream. "Seeker armada to the flight deck. Your target is the Decepticon ship, the _Harbinger_. You are to obliterate it at once!"

Violetwind's spark caught in her chest. They had figured out where the Autobots were conducting their distractions from. Worry gripped her, freezing her in place. If the _Harbinger_ was attacked, Ratchet and the humans would have little to no chance.

Noticing her lack of movement, Knock Out turned to her frowning, "What's with the lack of work? You don't expect me to do it all do you?"

Her mind clicked over and she glanced up at him. Just as she was about to move the sound of an explosion rocked the place. She recognised this as the next part of the plan: Wheeljack and Bulkhead were attacking the citadel. The distraction would aid Bumblebee and Arcee so they could slip past the Decepticons and enter the fortress in order to disable the fusion cannons.

Another announcement came through the comm system, again from Starscream, "Seeker armada, your target has changed. Destroy the Autobots attacking Darkmount!"

Relief flooded the purple femme. The others would be fine. Letting out a thankful breath, she tried to act nonchalant, "Oh, it's nothing just thinking about some things."

He raised an optic ridge in suspicion but did not press for information and they went back to work, the femme avoiding further conversation.

Soon she finished work on one of the bombs. _So this will really work?_

_Yep. The effect does not last all that long though, just a few hours, unlike the actual Immobilizer which is much more effective._

Glancing nervously at the red mech, she waited for a moment when he was not looking to switch out the one she had been working on for a fresh one. He wanderer over to another table to grab another tool and she used the moment do swap out the bomb, taking mental note of the working one's location.

When she was sure that he had not noticed the switch, she relaxed a little, quickly getting back to work, his back still to her.

**::**Arcee to Violetwind. We're having a little trouble and could use some help.**::** the blue femme's voice came through her comm link.

"Did you say something?" Knock Out inclined his head slightly in her direction but did not turn around.

"Nothing," she replied hurriedly.

_Ask him for some energon, so we can get rid of him._

"Um, actually, Knock Out. It's been a while since I had energon. Do you think I could have some? I wouldn't want to collapse on your or anything."

The mech grunted, turning to face her. Megatron had instructed him to not allow her to leave he room, still suspicious of her, as was his nature. He knew he was not to leave her alone, although, honestly he would not mind getting away for a bit. "Alright, I'll go fetch some."

Moving to the door he opened it, ordering one of the vehicons standing guard to come in. "You will remain here with Violetwind until I return." He looked back at the femme with a 'charming' smile, "To keep you company." With a nod he left.

**::**Vi...**::** Arcee called again.

With a nervous smile at the trooper, she turned her back to him, whispering though the comm link, "Arcee, I'm kinda under watch at the moment."

**::**Can you shake them? We're pinned down. Ultra Magnus is going for the fusion cannons but I'm not sure how long we can last here.**::**

Glancing at her work, the femme grimaced. She had not completed enough of them to be as helpful as she would have liked. One was not really going to cut it. The second was almost finished so perhaps...

"Arcee, I'll be there as soon as I can." She was about to end the comm when she realised something. "Um, Arcee, where are you?"

**::**About the 31st floor on the west side.**::**

"Ok, I'll do my best."

Bumblebee sent in a final warning. **::**_Be careful, Vi, there are a lot of troopers about_.**::**

"I will, Bee."

Working as fast as she dared, Violetwind finished the second Immobilizer bomb. Now armed with the two of them she slipped out a small simple cloth sack from under her door wing plating. Collecting all the parts from the unfinished weapons she placed them inside, keeping the two finished ones in her hand. Taking the bag of unfinished bombs she opened up a small compartment in her waist. When first explaining what to do with the bombs, Windy had called it a subspace. It was not particularly large, just enough room to fit one of the kids, but it fit the bombs well enough.

_Shall we give it a test run?_

_Let's do it!_

Taking a moment to close her optics Violetwind calmed herself. Somewhat mentally prepared she whirled around and tossed one of the bombs at the purple trooper's pedes. With a bright flash and a bang he was frozen in place in an unflattering position of complete shock trying to shield himself and jump back at the same time.

The femme giggled in amusement at the new statue. "That worked well. Let's go see how it works on multiple targets."

Racing out the door she ran for the exit to the _Nemesis_, Windy helping direct her so as to not take a wrong turn. Two minds really were better than one when it came to remembering where they had been.

Her pedes soon touched the metal floor of Darkmount. "Ok, now's when the fun begins," she muttered, thinking about the search to actually reach Arcee and Bumblebee.

Transforming to vehicle mode she raced along the stretch of platform that the _Nemesis_ rested upon. She realised that Knock Out would notice her disappearance soon and sound the alarm. If only she could get to the others before she was spotted.

"Arcee, Bee, I'm headed your way," the femme comm linked her friends.

**::**About time.**::** came Arcee's curt reply.

In turn she only whined submissively, not about to respond to that. The two wheeler had right to be uptight at that moment and she was not going to make things worse with a rude response.

Through the twists and turns of the citadel, Violetwind made her way to the place where the pair were pinned down. She could hear blaster shots getting louder in her audio receptors, concluding that she was getting close.

Returning to robot mode, she peered around the corner. Vehicons were shooting at something or someone but from her position she could not see who but she did not need to.

Leaning back against the wall she commed. "Guys, I'm close. Stay back, ok. Don't need you getting caught up in this."

**::**Right.**::**

Taking a deep intake of air she peeked around the corner again. Rolling the remaining Immobilizer in her fingers, she gathered up her nerve before tossing the metal ball as hard as she could into the vehicon group.

The explosion erupted and when the noise it caused died down, there was silence. The Decepticon troopers that had been firing where now stiff, unable to move a servo. Walking over, she was met by Arcee and Bumblebee who were curiously taking a closer look.

The blue femme was impressed. "This will come in very handy. I'm glad you didn't finish them during the war for the 'Cons to get their hands on them."

Bumblebee tapped the trooper closest to him on the helm. _'How long does it last?'_

"Windy says not more than a few hours."

"Guess we'd better get going then."

They started off down one of the corridors. The purple femme bringing out her blasters, in-case they were to he spotted. She was already incredibly lucky to have made it as far as she did without being confronted. But it was easier to hide one bot than it was three.

Speaking of luck, hers had just run out. The trio had just rounded a corner when a bunch of vehicons came from around another. Upon noticing them a bunch of weapons were pointed in their direction.

"Do you have another one of those bombs?"

"Uh, nope..."

"Scrap..."

* * *

Hehehe, don't you just love cliffhangers.


	22. Chapter 22

And we're almost finished guys! This is the last chapter! And one I'm quite fond of.

* * *

Chapter 22

Things were not looking good for the Bots. Vehicons stood at both ends of the hall, blocking the trio's escape. Arcee, Bumblebee and Violetwind shared a glance of worry. Surrounded and outnumbered was not a favourable position.

_Quick point your weapons at Arcee and Bee._

Without thinking she reacted, doing as such. The two wheeler gave her a questioning look but did not say anything.

_Now tell them that your just caught the Autobot intruders._

Clearing her vocalisers, the femme lifted her voice to the troopers. "I- I have just caught the Autobot intruders."

Their blasters did not move, still locked onto the three bots.

The metallic voice of one spoke up. "We have been informed to take you in too."

"Heh," she let out a nervous huff, "come on guys. You should know I couldn't stay in the lab while we were being invaded, not when I found out the bombs worked."

He was not convinced. "How come they are not immobilised then?"

"Ah, well, you see, that is because the bomb I used, uh, missed... It hit a few troopers instead. You'll find then down the hall." She indicated in the direction they had come from.

Two of the vehicons broke off to go check on their brethren, while the one who had been the spokesperson still regarded her suspiciously. "You are not to be out." He nodded to the others to take the Autobots away before looking back to her. "I will return you to the lab."

Violetwind nodded, falling into step with him. Glancing back at Arcee and Bumblebee she shot them an apologetic look.

The blue femme narrowed her optics but nodded. Although she did not like it, she accepted the fact that it would not do much good if they were all taken captive.

Looking back at her, the mech whirred sadly, making her feel a little guilty. But they were good warriors, they would be fine. Well, she hoped so anyway.

When she arrived back at the lab on the _Nemesis_, Knock Out was leaning casually against the wall. He had clearly been waiting for her to return. "Needed energon did you? Not badly enough to stop you from running off, though." He shook his helm with a sly grin, waving a finger at her. "Tut tut, that was bad form."

Grinning nervously the purple femme tried to get something out her mouth but this undercover work was starting to wear her out and she could think of nothing to say. Then again, she was wondering just how much he actually believed her after that stunt. Was there even anything she could really say to dissuade him of his suspicions? Even she would not believe anything she said.

_Tell him that the device worked. Tell him it was worth the wait for the energon to be able to test it out. _

Yet, despite the suggestions, her vocalisers were not able to produce a sound. Her mind still felt blank. Giving up on trying to get anything out, her door wings slumped and the femme instead walked over to the table to pick up another unfinished bomb. She stared at it for a moment seeming to be completely absorbed by it. After some seconds ticked by she broke out of her blank stare to begin tinkering with the device.

Knockout had just been watching her with curious interest as she seemed unable to form words and got to work on the bomb again. He was a little disappointed. "What? You're not even going to try and come up with a good excuse?"

Not lifting her gaze, the femme ignored him. She simply had no comebacks or excuses and as such had nothing to say to him.

The red medic walked over to the other side of the table to face her. "Well now, this is just boring. What am I supposed to tell the Big M himself?"

"Whatever you want," she replied with a complete lack of emotion, still not looking up at him.

"Humph," he leaned back, folding his arms, "Well then, I suppose you won't mind hearing that all your Autobot pals were captured. Guess they won't be troubling us again. _Starscream_ ordered them executed," he emphasised the seeker's name distastefully.

The news caused her to freeze, her spark clenched in fear. It couldn't end like this. She would _not_ let it end like this. Glancing down at the tool in her hand, her optics narrowed. Without thinking, she tossed it at the mech, scratching his pristine paint.

"Ahh! How could you?! You'll pay for that!" He shrieked, a wild look taking over his red optics.

Not waiting another second, she turned and dashed out the door, right passed the trooper who was supposed to be guarding it. Transforming, the purple femme sped off hearing Knock Out's angry cries after her.

"Don't just stand there! Get her you fool!"

_Well we've lost our cover for sure now._

"Yeah... Sorry, about that..." Her spark felt heavy with guilt.

_Hey, what're you apologising to me for? I would have given it up back with the others and fought our way out!_

Violetwind grunted sadly. "Guess, I shoulda done that. At least that way we wouldn't be separated and they wouldn't facing execution..."

_Stop slagging thinking like that. Just because you made a different choice doesn't mean it was right or wrong. Just means it was different. Don't you dare go blaming yourself like that _Windy told her off, trying to get her out of her emotional slump.

"I suppose so..."

_We don't have any fragging time for this. What's done is done. We need to get to the others._

"You're right," she replied, gaining some confidence, "They need us."

Suddenly the red mech himself appeared in her way. He must have taken a short cut and gotten in front of her, he did know the ship much better than the femme.

Without coming to a complete stop she transformed back into robot mode, screeching echoing through the halls as she skid a short distance in a crouch. As she stopped she stood tall, optics dark as she frowned at him, "Get out of my way, Knock Out."

"I don't think so," he pointed at the scratch on his chestplates, "You scratch mine," his right hand flicked down, replaced by a buzzsaw, "I scratch yours."

In an instant her confidence crashed. The sight of the circular weapon was more far terrifying than a regular sword or even a blaster. Wide optics stared at the spinning blade while her door wings twitched nervously.

_Don't just stand there! Get out your own blades!_

Instinctively she obeyed, swords replacing her own hands.

The mech lunged at her with his buzz saw. Quickly she brought up her blades in an x configuration, stopping his arm above her helm. Wide blue optics stared at the buzzing circular blade in fear, just focusing on putting her strength behind not letting it drop any closer to her. She rather liked having her head in one piece.

With his free hand, he delivered a quick punch her waist, the hard hit knocking her back.

Stumbling away, she held an arm in front of where she had been struck, whining in pain.

The mech was not about to let her recover though. Shoving her against the wall, he held her there with his hand around her neck.

The femme whimpered. Her door wings were crushed awkwardly against the wall and the mech was gripping her vocalisers much too tightly. Returning her swords to her hands she took hold of his arm, struggling to remove him. Fear dictated that she _must_ detach him and flee if she were to survive.

He smiled all too eagerly at her panicked optics. "Shall we open up that processor of yours and see how it ticks?"

"Please, Knock Out, d-don't. I-I'm sorry- I'm really sorry about your paint. I didn't mean to do anything to it. Really. Please just let me go. I'll go back to working on the bombs. I won't cause any more trouble," she blubbered on, still trying ineffectively to loosen his grip.

Making a clicking sound, he grinned, "I don't think I can do that. You really ought be taught a lesson." He raised the buzz saw to her head.

Getting desperate she cried out, "What's Megatron going to say when he finds out you offlined me?!"

"Oh, you don't have to worry your pretty little head about that. I won't be taking you offline. Just..." his malicious grin sent shivers down her backstruts, "Scratching you up a little."

"Knock Out, please rethink this! I'll do anything!" Tears started to flow from her optics in her distress.

"Crying won't help you now." He began to inch the spinning blade closer to her, enjoying it as she squirmed under the tension. In terror she closed her optics, jaw trembling. Violetwind had resigned herself to her fate as she was unable to escape. Her only question now was how many pieces Knock Out would leave her in.

It was then her comm link burst to life, interrupting them with the voice of Ultra Magnus. **::**All units, Optimus Prime has returned.**::**

Her optics flicked open with hope from the news. Their leader was alive!

"What's this?" Knock Out stared at her in confusion.

**::**I repeat. Prime is alive and quite well.**::**

Filled with a renewed sense of hope, Violetwind gathered up her courage and therefore her strength. Lifting a pede she kicked the mech in the stomach plates. He staggered backward clutching at his midsection, caught unaware but the sudden attack.

Recovering from her ordeal, the femme stepped forward and punched him in the face, sending him to the floor.

"That, _Knock Out,_ was the sound of the Autobots claiming a victory," she told him with a huff, wiping the lubricant from her cheeks.

Leaving him there, she ran off, feeling the tables already turning in their favour. If the others got as much of a confidence boost at hearing the news as she had, they would be fine.

Arriving once again on the platform where the _Nemesis_ was sitting on Darkmount, the femme looked to the skies overhead where the sound of blaster fire could be heard. What she saw caused her optics to widen and jaw to become slack. Above her head flew Optimus Prime himself. He had some sort of jet pack which gave him the power of flight, though where it came from she had no clue.

Megatron chased after him in his alternate mode; the jet vigorously pursuing the Autobot leader.

Overcoming her initial shock and amazement, Violetwind let loose a whoop and a holler, overwhelmed by emotions. She even jumped up and down a few times out of pure joy. It was the most amazing feeling of excitement she had ever felt.

Turning her gaze back to the sky, she watched as Optimus stopped mid-flight. The mech turned to his opponent, waiting until Megatron was about to ram straight into him. It was in this instant that he snatched up the Decepticon by the wings, the momentum carrying Optimus into a back flip. Stabilising himself, the red and blue Bot started to spin in circles, powering up to toss the jet away.

"Megatron, be gone!" he yelled, releasing the mech into his own fusion cannon.

Said mech, landed in the power core, disrupting its systems and producing an overload. The resulting explosion was enough to make Violetwind stand back in awe at their success. The objective was complete: they had destroyed the fusion cannons. The cities were safe.

Hearing the sound of more incoming jets, her excitement fizzled. Agent Fowler was coming. This in itself was not a bad thing as he was here to destroy the Decepticon's citadel and stop them from using it to hold cities hostage. It was the purpose of their mission and good he was coming; except that she was still standing on the very structure he and his air force wished to annihilate.

**::**Autobots, clear the area.**::** Ultra Magnus declared in triumph, the purple femme not quite feeling his joy at that moment.

Violetwind started to run for a way down, but knew that if they kept coming at the speed they were, she would never make it out in time.

Lifting a hand to the side of her helm she cried out desperately, "Guys, I'm still on the tower! I repeat, I'm still on Darkmount!"

**::**Violetwind get out of their now!**::** Ratchet yelled at her through the comm link.

"What do you think I'm doing?! Having a tea party?! Can't you bridge me out?!"

**::**A what? Never mind,**::** he brushed off his confusion at her mention of a tea party, **::**I'm afraid I can't. The tower is still blocking all unauthorised ground bridges.**:: **

"Scrap," she curse mildly. "Well contact Fowler then!" Seeing the jets coming for the citadel she tried to wave and get their attention but there was no deviation to their course. She got the feeling she had not been seen or that because of her colour, she had been taken for one of the vehicons.

Suddenly a loud roaring noise like a jet engine came from behind her. Starting to whirl around in fright she thought it might be one of the Decepticons coming around to finish her off. Instead she was promptly swept off her feet, picked up and held under her arms.

"No need, Ratchet," her holder's deep voice rumbled.

**::**Thank the All Spark.**::**

Her rapidly beating spark was told to slow as she let out a vent of relief. It was Optimus. With his new jetpack, he had plucked her up and was taking them to safety, Darkmount crumbling behind them. Unfortunately Megatron and his Decepticons were escaping in the _Nemesis_. But they would be of no threat to the Autobots for a while, having just taken such a huge blow.

Regaining the use of her vocalisers the purple femme glanced up at her rescuer gratefully. "Thank you, Optimus."

As he looked down at her, she could see his smile, revealed through his caring optics as his face was mostly covered by his mouth guard. "I am glad to see you are unharmed."

"Yes, well, there were a few close shaves today..." she recalled some of the earlier instances, particularly with Knock Out. It would most certainly not be pretty next time they met.

"Actually, Optimus... There are a few things I have to tell you which might be hard to believe," the femme confessed, knowing she would have to tell him sooner or later about herself.

"Let us leave that for another time," he replied. "I believe you have a friend to see."

The mech had flown down to where the others were gathering. Placing her down, she stood up and looked around at the Bots, wondering what Optimus had meant.

"Vi!" A familiar voice cried out.

Her gaze landed upon its owner and a smile light up her face. "Smokescreen! You're alive!" The femme yelled, throwing her arms around him in a hug.

"Aren't I always?" he joked, reciprocating the gesture.

Releasing the mech, she shook her head with a smile. "Yes, I supposed that's true." Her optics narrowed slightly, "But you really need to stop scaring me! We were really worried about you and Optimus!"

Smokescreen chuckled, glancing over at the large mech, before smiling down at her. "We were fine. Used the phase shifter to keep us safe deep underground."

"And out of scanner range," Bulkhead added, breaking into their conversation.

Arcee nodded in understanding, "That's why Ultra Magus couldn't detect your signals."

Glancing between the pair, the purple femme was just content to know that for now they were safe; Darkmount was destroyed and the Decepticons had retreated.

~oOo~

Evening had settled in and so had the Autobots. Agent Fowler had arranged for them use one of the hangers at the military base. This is where they were all currently gathered, Bots and humans alike.

Agent Fowler stood on an upper walkway looking over the Bots as he gave his small speech. Everyone else was standing in front of him, with Jack, Miko, Raf and June at the Bots pedes looking up at the military man.

"On behalf of the president and the joint chiefs, I thank you for your selfless heroism in defence of this planet. I'm only sorry that the world can't yet know of your undying dedication because I for one owe you my life, my liberty and my future." In an honouring gesture, the man saluted the Autobot heroes.

Optimus gratefully acknowledged him with a nod of his head.

Stepping up to the Prime, Ultra Magnus spoke, "Sir, I am honoured to relinquish command of the Autobots, to you."

The usually stoic mech turned to him with a smile, small as it was, plainly there for all to see. "Welcome to Earth, Ultra Magnus. And, to Team Prime."

Behind the other Bots, Violetwind watched, feeling a small amount of pride and yet feeling out of place. She hardly felt like she had done much good during the attack. Almost like she had been there for the sake of things. So for now she stayed behind everyone, going unnoticed.

Unlike the femme, Miko was not one to keep silent for long. She grinned and walked up to the commanders, "Ok, someone's gotta say it. Optimus 2.0 is rad! Imagine what the forge could do for your bod!" The girl looked pointedly over at Ratchet.

The medic snorted in disgust, yet turned, as they all did, to look upon the Forge of Solus Prime sitting against the wall. "Is it true the forge has been drained of its power?"

The question had hardly needed to be spoken though, they all knew that the forge was indeed useless with regard to its abilities. It would never be used to create again.

"Then any hope of rebuilding the Omega Lock has truly been lost..." he uttered, cementing the fact in the minds of his fellow Autobots.

"I... did what I felt was right," Smokescreen told them, feeling the weight of his decision; believing it was because of him that Cybertron would be doomed to remain a lifeless husk.

"And your instincts have again proven to be quite sound," the mech complemented him, giving the rookie a warm smile of comfort. Optimus was alive and it meant more to Ratchet to have his friend with him than to be back on their planet without him.

Looking over at the medic in surprise, Smokescreen smiled from the older mech's reassurance. Although it did not completely wash away his guilt it helped to ease it.

With a final nod to him, Ratchet stepped towards the purple femme hiding in the background, his hands on his hips and helm slightly tilted to the side. He looked over at her expectantly.

Violetwind smiled nervously in reply, guessing the reason behind his look. She really did not want to go through the whole story yet again. Truth was she had been glad it had not been brought up earlier.

Confused by his medic and the femme's strange looks, Optimus walked over glancing between them. "Was there something I missed during my absence?"

Taking a deep calming intake of air, the purple femme looked up at him. "There was and it's that thing I mentioned before... But first." She pulled out the small bag from her subspace which contained some of the unfinished Immobilizer bombs. "I collected what I could while back at the lab. Once finished the bombs should prove useful, and if given the materials I should be able to create more. I kinda used up the two I finished."

Ratchet took the bag peaking inside before placing it down. He looked at her, impressed, "Well done. I assume you were able to add your 'improvements' to the Decepticon's blueprints for these?"

She promptly let out a small thank you and nodded. "I did. They should not be able to recreate them." Then she turned back to the tall red and blue mech. "There are some things that you and Smokescreen should know about me. I've already gone though this with everyone else but, um, here it comes again I guess..."

Confusion shone from Optimus and Smokescreen's optics, while the other Autobots glanced at each other in knowing. Although the others had heard her tell it before, they stuck around to listen anyway, some just still trying to fathom it. Bumblebee and Rafael, however, were quite willing to offer their support with comforting looks.

With everyone gathered around and Violetwind once again having their undivided attention, she explained the story of the 'real Violetwind' having arrived on earth and what she did and as a result what she was. For the forth time since finding out, she outlined what had happened to place her human mind into that of a Cybertronian.

When she was done, she nervously wrung her hands. "Are there any questions?"

"I'm still finding it hard to believe and I've heard it twice now," Agent Fowler broke in shaking his head and looking up at her from where he stood off to the side with June.

"If anyone had told you you would be saving humanity with giant alien robots ten years ago, would you have believed them?" countered Raf.

The man laughed, "No I can't say I would have."

Still a little confused, Smokescreen tried to understand, "So you've got like this, 'Windy' living up in your processor?"

"Yes," the femme nodded.

"And she's the former Violetwind and she can, like, talk to you?"

She nodded again, "Yeah..."

"Wow," he muttered slowly wrapping his processor around the idea.

"This does explain many things," their leader commented thoughtfully. "How are you taking to this development?"

The femme blinked a few times, taken off guard by the question. No one had asked her that yet. How was she taking it she wondered, taking a moment to assess just how she felt about it.

"I... I don't know..." she confessed, "Everything has been kind of busy since Windy told me. I guess I'm accepting it though. I can't change the past and I'm pretty sure the process isn't reversible."

Gazing into her optics with the care of a father, Optimus rested a hand on her shoulder. "That is true, but what concerns me now is your future. While I do not approve of 'Windy's' method, I do believe her intentions had been pure. You have been thrown into our war and for this, I deeply apologise. Have you considered what you are to do now?"

"Well no... I mean, I couldn't possibly go back to a normal life even if I remembered what that was. If you don't want me on Team Prime I- I understand... I do not feel as if I have been much use to you." Her door wings drooped in disappointment.

_Where you get these ideas from I will never know,_ Windy uttered in amazement. _Optimus wouldn't throw us out. _

"That was not what I meant," he assured her, "Actually I was hoping you would remain with us. You will not be required to join us in the field, if that is what you desire. With Violetwind's past knowledge able to be passed onto you, I am sure Ratchet would find you invaluable as I disagree with you 'not having been much use to us.' You have proven to be a worthy ally."

Violetwind looked up at the mech with hopeful optics, a bright smile making its way onto her face. She already knew her answer.

_Slag, yeah!_

* * *

And we've done it! We've made it to the end of this story! But is that where it all ends? Certainly not! For I have indeed been working on a **sequel**, called _Battle of the Mind_. It will likely be out in about two weeks (I need a small break and some time to edit what I have).

Random fyi: Violetwind's needing to escape from the citadel before it got blown up was not something I had planned, that scene just sort of showed up, taking on a life of its own (I love it when writing does that). Which meant when I came up with Violet's "What do you think I'm doing?! Having a tea party?!" I was laughing away trying to keep quiet and not wake anyone up. It brought wonderful tears to my eyes. Even now I'm still giggling over it. :P  
And finally just because I want to tell someone, I have to admit I've been secretly shipping Violet and Smoke for a while... Whenever I did scenes with them I had to keep reminding myself they're just friends. _Just friends_. It was never supposed to be anything more... The shipping made it hard to cut a scene from the end but it just didn't feel like a finish hence I changed it and wasn't really relevant to anything anyway. (It's ok, plenty of chances for the sequel :) )

And finally, I would like to give praise to God for helping me through this. I couldn't have done it on my own. Although there might be many factors that helped inspire me to get up and start this, I believe it was Him who was behind it all, laying the framework and knowing what I would need. I thank Him for helping me grow as a writer through this story.

So I hope you have enjoyed reading as much as I have enjoyed writing. Thank you all for sticking with it this far, I appreciate every single person that put in the time and effort to read this, so THANK YOU! And I hope we can possibly share more adventures in the future! Till all are one!


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